Operofae 

Studuttu. 


V 


.  PASTORAL  THEOLOGY ; 

L- — 

OR. 

THE  THEORY  OF  THE  EVANGELICAL  MINISTRY, 

X 

*  A  •' '  v* "  <.'• 

Bv    A.    VINET. 

TRANSLATED     A.tn     EDITED 

Hv    THOMAS    H     SKINNER,    D.D.. 

|R    OP    PASTORAL    THEOLOGY    IN    THE    U1ION    TIIEOLOO1CA  L 


WITH    NOTES,   AND    AN   A«bm6$AL  CHAFER,   BV   THE    TKANSI.ATOK 


"'E-yuj  oui  O 


NEW    YORK: 
HARPER    A     BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS. 

189    t    S31     PEARL    STREET. 
FRANKLIN     SQUARE. 

1853. 
V 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty-  three,  by 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 


in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


fr.J^Z* 


Let  not  thy  heart  be  hasty  to  utter  any  thing  before  God  ;  for  God 
is  in  heaven,  and  thou  upon  earth. — Ecdeaiastes,  v.,  2. 

Quand  on  ne  serait  pendant  sa  vie  que  1'apotre  d'un  seul  homine, 
ce  ne  serait  pas  6tre  en  vain  sur  la  terre  un  fardeau  inutile. — La  Bru- 
yere. 


PREFACE 

BY    THE    TRANSLATOR. 


WE  began  to  read  this  work  for  our  own  advant- 
age ;  but  soon  received  an  impression  of  its  excellence, 
which  led  us  to  wish  that  it  might  have  the  free  cir- 
culation which  a  faithful  translation  and  an  American 
edition  would  secure  to  it.  A  further  acquaintance 
with  it  deepened  this  impression,  until  at  length  this 
translation  became  almost  a  natural  result. 

The  work  of  translation  is  generally  thought  to  be 
irksome ;  but,  in  the  present  case,  the  communion 
which  it  has  occasioned  with  the  beautiful,  earnest, 
and  holy  spirit  of  the  author,  has  changed  labor  into 
the  highest  pleasure.  The  minute  attention  which 
must  be  given  to  every  sentence  and  word  in  translat- 
ing has  this  advantage,  that  it  obliges  us  to  perceive 
every  delicate  shade  of  thought  and  feeling  which  the 
author  expresses ;  and  as  there  have  been  very  few  as 
pure,  as  discriminating,  as  imaginative,  as  spiritual 
minds  as  that  of  M.  Vinet,  it  could  not  but  be  that  in 
a  treatise  on  a  subject  which  he  had  so  thoroughly 
studied,  and  which  was  so  congenial  to  his  character 


VI  PREFACE. 

and  temperament,  there  should  be  found  a  rich,  varied, 
and  full  exhibition  of  sentiment  and  feeling :  Adding 
to  this  the  intrinsic  excellence  of  the  subject  itself, 
PASTORAL  THEOLOGY,  whose  sphere  is  that  which  was 
filled  by  the  Chief  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls,  it 
afforded  a  fund  of  enjoyment  and  profit,  to  which  it 
was  truly  an  unusual  privilege  to  have  such  familiar 
and  intimate  access. 

M.  Vinet,  among  the  gifted  men  of  his  times,  was  in 
the  first  rank.  The  editor  of  his  "  Etudes  sur  Blaise 
Pascal,"  we  think,  with  no  more  than  justice,  classes 
him,  in  the  most  important  respects,  with  that  great 
man.  "  The  general  direction  of  his  labors,  the  na- 
ture of  his  mind  and  temperament,  gave  him  ready 
access  to  this  noble  and  astonishing  genius.  A  pen- 
etrating analysis  of  the  human  soul,  a  strong  attach- 
ment of  heart  to  truth  and  an  imperious  demand  for 
evidence,  a  natural  melancholy,  an  inclination  to  seri- 
ous irony,  a  strict  and  sometimes  transcendent  dialect- 
ic, passion  in  reason,  a  comprehensive  and  powerful  im- 
agination— these  traits  are  common  to  the  author  of 
Discours  sur  quelques  Sujets  Religieux  and  the  au- 
thor of  the  Pensees.  We  may  say,  making  due  allow- 
ance for  circumstances,  that  Pascal  and  Vinet  resem- 
bled each  other.  Pascal,  moreover,  inspired  the  Prot- 
estant apologist  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  served 
as  his  model.  If  natural  affinity,  sympathy,  and  inter- 
est are  of  any  aid  to  the  understanding,  M.  Vinet  as- 


PREFACE.  Vll- 

suredly  ought  to  comprehend  Pascal.  It  was  this,  per- 
haps, which  led  an  eminent  critic,  M.  Sainte-Beuve,  to 
say  :  '  If  we  should  collect  into  one  small  volume  the 
articles  of  M.  Vinet  on  Pascal,  we  should  have,  I  think, 
the  most  exact  results  to  which  we  can  arrive  on  this 
great  controversy.'  "* 

The  work  before  us  is  worthy  of  its  author.  It  was 
not  prepared  for  the  press  by  M.  Vinet,  but  the  subject 
had  received  his  closest  attention,  protracted  through  a 
series  of  years ;  and  though  it  is  substantially  composed 
of  notes,  which  served  as  a  basis  of  instruction  in  the 
Academy  of  Lausanne,  yet  these  notes  were  carefully 
prepared  by  the  author,  and,  of  course,  embodied  his 
best  and  strongest  thoughts.  M.  Vinet's  own  manu- 
scripts were  sometimes  complemented  from  the  note- 
books of  his  pupils ;  but  these  insertions,  which,  in 
the  French  publication,  are  included  in  brackets,  and 
which,  in  a  volume  of  four  hundred  pages,  amount  to 
about  thirty,  have  the  full  force  and  vigor  of  the  au- 
thor's mind,  and  are  quite  equal  in  excellence  to  the 
other  parts  of  his  work.  The  slight  imperfections  of 
form,  arising  from  the  causes  indicated  by  the  French 
editors,  do  not  impair  the  value  of  this  book  :  After  re- 
moving the  brackets,  as  we  have  done  in  this  transla- 
tion, they  will  probably  not  be  observed. 

The  work  is  distinguished  by  the  following  great  ex- 
cellences :  by  comprehensiveness  and  fullness  of  plan, 

*  Etudes  sur  Blaisc  Pascal,  par  A.  VINET,  p.  vii. 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

embracing  all  parts  of  the  subject  in  just  proportion; 
by  a  deeply  philosophical  vein  of  teaching  under  the 
guise  of  the  most  beautiful  simplicity  ;  by  thorough, 
various,  and  extensive  learning ;  by  a  pre-eminently 
pure  and  holy  spirit,  which  often  subdues  and  pene- 
trates the  reader's  heart,  and  leads  him  to  look  within 
himself  with  the  profoundest  self-scrutiny ;  and,  when- 
ever the  subject  permits  it,  by  a  peculiarly  elevated, 
eloquent,  and  charming  diction. 

If  we  were  to  distinguish  between  the  merits  of  the 
different  parts  of  this  work,  we  should  assign  the  high- 
est place  to  the  third  part,  especially  chapter  second, 
which  treats  of  the  care  of  souls  as  applied  to  individ- 
uals ;  where  we  can  not  but  think  that  this  spiritual 
and  faithful  man  has  transcended  all  who  have  pre- 
ceded him.  As  an  example  of  the  earnestness  and  ten- 
derness of  his  manner  in  this  part,  we  insert  here  a  pas- 
sage which  refers  to  the  case  of  a  pastor  at  the  bedside 
of  a  dying  man  who  is  not  prepared  for  death  :  "  There 
are,  it  is  said,  souls  who  perceive  with  despair  that  the 
principle  of  the  spiritual  life  is  extinguished  within 
them,  and  who  with  terrible  evidence  are  convinced 
that  there  remains  nothing  in  them  that  can  love  or 
pray :  Faith  comes  to  them  at  the  last  moment,  but  it 
is  the  faith  of  demons,  resplendent  with  brightness,  but 
it  is  the  brightness  of  lightning.  Grod  only  can  know, 
indeed,  that  this  soul  is  dead :  As  for  you  who  do  not 
know,  struggle,  pant  with  it.  fight  its  battle,  unite 


PREFACE.  IX 

with  it  in  its  agony ;  let  it  perceive  that  there  is  by 
its  side,  in  its  last  anguish,  a  soul  that  believes,  that 
hopes,  and  that  loves ;  that  your  love  is  but  a  reflection 
of  the  love  of  Christ;  and  that  Christ,  through  you,  has 
become  present  to  it :  Grive  it  a  hint,  a  glimpse,  a  taste 
of  the  Divine  mercy  ;  let  it  be,  as  it  were,  forced  to  be- 
lieve in  it  by  seeing  the  reflection  of  it  in  you  :  Hope 
against  Kope :  "Wrestle  with  God  to  the  last  moment : 
Let  the  voice  of  your  prayer,  the  echo  of  the  words  of 
Christ,  resound  in  the  dying  man's  ear,  even  in  his 
dreams :  You  do  not  know  what  may  be  passing  in 
that  interior  world  into  which  your  views  do  not  pene- 
trate ;  nor  by  what  mystery  eternity  may  hang  on  one 
minute,  and  salvation  on  one  sigh.  You  do  not  know 
what  may  avail — what  one  ejaculation  of  a  soul  toward 
(rod  may  embrace  at  the  last  bound  of  earthly  exist- 
ence. Then  do  not  cease :  pray  aloud  with  the  dying 
man ;  pray  for  him  with  a  low  voice :  Be  a  priest  when 
you  can  no  longer  be  a  preacher.  Let  the  office  of  in- 
tercession, the  most  efficacious  of  all,  precede,  accom- 
pany, follow  all  others." 

But  while  we  can  not  but  regard  the  third  part  with 
peculiar  interest,  we  have  been  compelled  to  think  that 
there  is  an  omission  here  which  should  not  be  passed 
over  without  notice ;  and,  with  the  hope  of  increasing 
the  usefulness  of  the  book  in  our  own  country,  we  have 
endeavored  to  supply  it  by  adding  a  chapter  of  our  own. 

Our  author  has  distinctly  stated  (page  242)  the  prin- 
A2 


3C  PREFACE. 

ciple  which  guided  us  in  this  chapter,  a  principle  which 
admits  of  many  applications  ;  but  the  subject  we  have 
here  considered  seemed  to  us,  from  its  great  import- 
ance, entitled  to  peculiar  attention. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that,  in  editing  this 
work,  we  do  not  hold  ourselves  answerable  for  every 
opinion  of  the  author  :  On  two  points,  of  much  import- 
ance, we  have  thought  proper  to  indicate  some  differ- 
ence of  judgment  from  him,  in  notes  which  will  be 
found  in  the  Appendix. 

In  the  work  of  translation  we  have  had  occasion, 
more  than  once,  to  lament  the  impossibility  of  retain- 
ing in  English  the  exceedingly  naive  and  touching 
manner  of  the  author  ;  but  we  have  endeavored,  in  ev- 
ery case,  to  report  faithfully  the  views  and  movements 
of  his  uncommon  mind.  We  have  studied  exactness 
in  giving  his  meaning  rather  than  rigid  conformity  to 
his  manner  ;  although  we  have  endeavored  to  deviate 
from  this  no  further  than  was  necessary  in  order  to  ren- 
der his  meaning  into  good  English. 

We  concur  with  the  French  editors  in  hoping  that 
this  book  will  be  read  not  only  by  ministers  of  the  Gos- 
pel, but  by  the  religious  community  generally :  Better 
than  any  work  we  know  of,  it  is  adapted  to  impart 
profound  and  just  impressions  of  the  pastoral  office,  in 
which  all  the  interests  of  humanity  are  so  deeply  in- 
volved. 


CONTENTS, 


ADVERTISEMENT  OF  THE  EDITORS xvii 

INTRODUCTION. 

$  I.  Definition  of  the  Subject.     What  is  a  Minister  of  the 

GospeH     Ideal  of  a  Minister jjl 

$  II.  Necessity  of  the  Evangelical  Ministry 38 

$  III.  Institution  of  the  Evangelical  Ministry 41 

$  IV.  Is  the  Ministry  an  Order  in  the  Church  ?  45 

$  V.  Excellence  of  the  Evangelical  Ministry 52 

$  VI.  Difficulties  and  Advantages  of  the  Evangelical  Ministry.  57 

$  VII.  Call  to  the  Evangelical  Ministry 71 


PART    FIRST. 

INDIVIDUAL  AND  INTERNAL  LIFE. 

General  Principle 109 

Renewal  of  Call 110 

Particular  Rules Ill 

Solitude 113 

Prayer 115 

Study  in  general,  and  of  the  Bible  in  particular 116 

Economy  of  Time ,. 124 

Asc^tisme  . .  .  196 


XH  i.-ONTEXTfj. 

PART    SECOND. 

RELATIVE  OR  SOCIAL  LIFE. 
CHAPTER  I. 

SOCIAL    LIFE    IN    GENERAL. 

P*f* 

$1.  Gravity 131 

In  Manners  in  general 133 

In  Discourse  in  particular 134 

t)  II.  Simplicity,  Modesty 138 

$111.  Pacific  Spirit 138 

$  IV.  Gentleness 140 

$  V.  Loyalty,  Rectitude,  Candor 141 

$  VI.  Disinterestedness 143 

§  VII.  The  Minister  in  Relation  to  the  general  Interests  of  So- 
ciety    151 

CHAPTER  II. 

DOMESTIC    LIFE    OF    A    MINISTER. 

$  I.  General  Reflections — Marriage  and  Celibacy — A  Pastor's 

Wife 156 

$  II.  Government  of  the  Family 161 

$  III.  House  and  Household  Economy  of  a  Pastor 163 


PART   THIRD. 

PASTORAL  LIFE. 

Preliminary  Reflections  on   the  Choice  of  a  Parish,  and  on 
Changes 169 

SECTION  FIRST. 

WORSHIP. 

Of  Worship  in  general 1 78 

Catholic  Worship 180 

Protestant  Worship 180 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

P.g« 

Worship  of  the  primitive  Church 181 

Characteristics  of  public  Worship 183 

Costume 185 

Celebration  of  Rites 186 

The  Lord's  Supper 187 

Baptism 187 

Singing 188 

Funerals 188 

SECTION  SECOND. 

INSTRUCTION. 

CHAPTER  I. 

PREACHING. 

$  I.  Importance  of  Preaching  among  the  Functions  of  the 

Ministry 189 

$  II.  Principles  or  Maxims  which  should  be,  held  as  to  Preach- 
ing     192 

$111.  Object  of  Preaching 202 

$  IV.  Unity  of  Preaching 203 

$  V.  Different  Classes  united  in  the  same  Auditory 204 

$  VI.  Popularity,  Familiarity,  Authority,  Unction 207 

$  VII.  Form  of  Preaching 215 

$  VIII.  Festival  and  occasional  Sermons 218 

$  IX.  Several  Questions  relative  to  Preaching 219 

Length  of  a  Sermon 219 

Repetition  of  Sermons 220 

Substitutes 221 

Duties  before  and  after  Preaching..., 221 

A  Preacher  should  know  what  is  thought  of  his  Preaching  222 

On  the  immediate  Impression  of  the  Sermon 223 

On  the  Fruits  of  Preaching .'.. 224 

Success  of  Opinion „ 226 


XrV  CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER  II. 

«  ft  '  l^  •"** 

CATECHISING. 

P«g« 

$  I.  Its  Importance  and  its  Object 229 

$  II.  General  characteristics  of  Catechising — Source  and  Meth- 

od  of  religious  Instruction 230 

$  HI.  Advice  to  the  Catechist .  -   232 

SECTION  THIRD. 

CARE    OF    SOULS,  OR  PASTORAL    OVERSIGHT. 
CHAPTER  I. 

OF  THE  CARE  OF  SOULS  IN  GENERAL. 

$  I.  Its  Relations  to  Preaching.     Foundations  of  the  Duty  of 

the  Care  of  Souls 238 

$  II.  Objections  against  the  Exercise  of  this  Function 239 

$  III.  Conditions  or  Qualities  required  for  the  Exercise  of  the 

Care  of  Souls 241 

$  IV.  Triple  Object  of  pastoral  Oversight 248 

$V.  TheSchool 246 

$  VI.  Relations  to  Families  :  Pastoral  Visits 247 

CHAPTER  II. 
OF  THB  CARE  OF  SOULS  APPLIED  TO  INDIVIDUALS. 

$  I.  Introdu6tion — Division  of  the  Subject 251 

§  II.  Internal  Situation 253 

1.  Persons  decidedly  Pious 253 

2.  New  Converts 258 

3.  The  Awakened 258 

4.  Souls  in  Trouble 259 

5.  The  Orthodox 261 

6.  Skeptics 264 

7.  The  Indifferent 266 

8.  Unbelievers 266 

9.  Rationalists 268 

10.  Stoics..  ..  268 


fONTENTfl.  XV 

Papi 

Reprehension  and  Direction ... . .  '. : . . .  2f>9 

General  Advice  relating  to  the  Conduct  of  Souls 272 

$  III.  External  Situation 274 

1.  The  Sick 275 

False  Security  in  the  Sick 282 

The  Sick,  trouhled,  despairing 283 

General  Directions 288 

Families  in  Affliction 291 

2.  The  diseased  in  Mind 293 

3.  Persons  divided 296 

4r.  The  Poor. . , 297 

1 >'..'W    - 

CHAPTER  III. 

On  the  Care  of  Souls  in  Times  of  special  Declension  and  special 

Interest  in  Religion  (by  the  Translator) 301 


PART   FOURTH. 

ADMINISTRATIVE  OR  OFFICIAL  LIFE.  * 
CHAPTER  I. 

DISCIPLINE 330 

CHAPTER  II. 

CONDUCT    TOWARD   DIFFERENT   RELIGIOUS   PARTIES 332 

CHAPTER  III. 

RELATIONS    OF    ECCLESIASTICS    AMONG    THEMSELVES 336 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    PASTOR    IN   HIS   RELATIONS    TO    AUTHORITIES..  .    339 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

APPENDIX. 

F^o 

Note  A.  On  the  Nature  of  the  Office  of  Priest  (Chrysostom)...  348 

Note  B.  The  Mystery  of  Preaching  (Saint  Cyran) 344 

Note  C.  On  the  speedy  Assumption  of  the  personal  Authority 

of  the  Priest  (Schwarz) 345 

Note  D.  First  Appearances  of  a  Tendency  to  form  Pastors  into 

a  Caste  (Neander) 346 

Note  E.  Of  the  universal  Priesthood  of  the  Christian  Church 

(Neander) 351 

Note  F.  On  the  Dignity  of  the  Ministry  (Erasmus) 351 

Note  G.  Of  Prayer  (Bacon,  Kepler,  De  Thou,  Massillon) 353 

Note  H.  Has  the  Sabbath  been  abolished  ]  (Translator) 356 

Note  I.  On  Liturgies  (Translator) 362 

Note  K.  On  the  Use  of  the  Catechism.  From  an  Article  by  M. 

Vinet 368 

Note  L.  Thoughts  of  Bengel  upon  the  Exercise  of  the  Ministry, 

translated  by  M.  Vinet 369 


ADVERTISEMENT  OF  THE  EDITORS. 


THE  volume  which  we  give  to  the  public  was  not 
prepared  lor  the  press  by  M.  Yinet.  It  is  composed 
essentially  of  notes  which  served  as  the  basis  of  a 
course  intended  for  the  students  of  the  Academy  of 
Lausanne.  These  notes,  most  frequently  written  out 
with  much  care,  often  have  the  character  of  a  simple 
sketch,  which  the  professor  proposed  to  complete  in  his 
lectures.  Hence  some  imperfections  of  form,  which 
would  certainly  have  disappeared  if  the  author  had  put 
his  own  finishing  hand  to  his  work.  We  have,  how- 
ever,  thought  it  our  duty  to  publish  it  such  as  we  found 
it,  without  permitting  ourse.lves  to  refashion  it,  in  any 
of  its  parts,  except  that  as  wo  had,  on  certain  portions 
of  the  course,  more  than  one  original  manuscript,  it 
often  happened  that  we  were  obliged  to  complete  some 
from  others.  Moreover,  when  it  seemed  to  us  neces- 
sary to  illustrate  or  complete  the  thought  of  the  author, 
we  have  inserted  amplifications  taken  from  the  note- 
books of  the  hearers  of  M.  Vinet.  These-  extracts 
might  have  been  multiplied,  but  we  have  confined  our- 
selves to  what  was  strictly  necessary,  and  all  the  in- 
sertions of  this  kind  have  been  placed  between  brack- 
ets,* that  they  might  not  escape  the  reader's  attention. 
M.  Vinet  himself  has  translated  many  passages,  taken 
*  These  are  omitted  in  the  translation. 


XV111  ADVERTISEMENT    OF    THE    EDITORS. 

from  ancient  or  foreign  authors,  which  will  be  found 
in  the  course  of  the  work.  Those  which  were  quoted 
in  the  original  language  we  have  rendered  into  French. 

The  Appendix  at  the  end  of  the  volume  contains 
principally  passages  from  authors  to  which  M.  Vinet 
simply  refers,  but  which  appear  to  have  been  read  in 
his  lectures,  and  which  serve  to  illustrate  his  thought. 
Many  of  these  have  been  fully  transcribed  by  himself 
in  his  note-books.  They  appear,  at  the  same  time,  too 
extended  to  be  inserted  in  the  course,  and  too  necessary 
to  be  merely  referred  to.  The  Thoughts  of  Bengel, 
which  will  be  also  found  in  the  Appendix,  were  trans- 
lated from  the  German  by  M.  Vinet,  and  published 
apart  in  a  small  pamphlet  in  16mo. 

There  are  here  and  there  allusions  to  the  National 
Church  of  the  Canton  de  Vaud.  It  should  be  remem- 
bered that  the  greater  part  of  the  hearers  of  M.  Vi- 
net were  to  exercise  the  evangelical  ministry  in  that 
church,  with  which  he  did  not  cease  to  be  connected, 
so  far  as  the  worship  was  concerned,  up  to  the  moment 
when  a  free  church  was  established  in  the  Canton  de 
Vaud,  in  consequence  of  the  secession  of  a  great  num- 
ber of  pastors. 

We  hope  that  the  course  of  Pastoral  Theology  will 
be  well  received,  not  only  by  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
and  students  of  theology,  for  whom  it  is  more  espe- 
cially designed,  but  by  the  religious  public  in  general. 
The  fundamental  idea  of  M.  Vinet  recommends  hi.s 
book  to  the  serious  attention  of  all  the  friends  of  the 
Gospel.  The  pastor  is  not,  in  his  view,  an  isolated 
being,  far  removed  from  the  community  of  Christians 
into  the  desert  of  a  solitary  dignity,  to  which  ordinary 


ADVERTISEMENT    OF    THE    EDITORS.  XIX 

believers  must  not  aspire.  He  conceives  of  him  as  less 
above  them  than  as  at  their  head,  and  in  the  advance 
in  the  work  of  charity.  Neither  are  his  labors  exclu- 
sive ;  on  the  contrary,  all  should  associate  themselves 
actively  with  him,  and  will  do  so  according  to  the  meas- 
are  of  their  fidelity.  The  pastor  is  not  essentially  dif- 
ferent from  a  Christian — he  is  the  representative  Chris- 
tian— the  model  of  the  flock  (1  Tim.,  iv.,  12).  All 
Christians  will  find  in  this  book  valuable  lessons,  which 
they  should  treasure  up.  If  they  receive  it  as  we  dare 
to  hope,  we  shall  soon  publish  also  Homiletics,  or,  the 
Theory  of  Preaching,  of  which  we  likewise  possess 
the  manuscript. 


..*. 


PASTORAL  THEOLOGY. 


INTRODUCTION. 

$  1 .  Definition  of  the  Subject.     What  is  a  Minister  of  the 
Gospel  ?     Ideal  of  a  Minister. 

WE  have  elsewhere  defined  Practical  Theology.  It  is  art 
which  supposes  science,  or  science  resolving  itself  into  art. 
It  is  the  art  of  applying  usefully,  in  the  ministry,  the  knowl- 
edge acquired  in  the  three  other  departments  of  theology, 
which  are  purely  scientific.  It  appears,  then,  that  we  may 
very  conveniently  call  Pastoral  Theology  that  collection  of 
rules  or  directions  to  which  we  have  given  the  name  of  Prac- 
tical Theology.  But,  although  the  idea  of  the  pastor  (Seel- 
sorger*)  and  of  the  pastorate  controls  and  comprehends  all 
the  parts  of  Practical  Theology,  yet  it  may  be  abstracted  and 
considered  by  itself  as  a  moral  element  pervading  each  part 
of  Practical  Theology,  but  which,  also,  distinct  from  the  cat- 
echetical and  homiletical  departments,!  forms  one  of  its  own, 
an  object  of  special  study.  Pastoral  Theology,  then,  would 

*  One  of  the  designations  of  a  pastor  in  Germany ;  literally,  hf 
who  has  the  care  of  the  soul. 

t  We  might  add  liturgical ;  but  the  small  space  we  can  give  to  this 
part  induces  us  to  include  it  in  our  course  of  Pastoral  Theology,  or 
Prudence.  As  to  ecclesiastical  law,  the  study  of  which  may  compre- 
hend that  of  the  different  ecclesiastical  legislations  or  constitutions, 
and  which  is  in  this  sense  a  science,  it  becomes  an  art,  and,  conse- 
quently, a  part  of  Practical  Theology,  in  so  far  as  it  practically  directs 
the  pastor  in  the  observance  and  execution  of  the  ecclesiastical  laws 
of  his  own  denomination.  What  little  we  shall  say  of  it  will  be  found 
in  its  proper  place  in  this  course. 


22  UNITY    OF    THE    MINISTRY. 

treat  of  all  the  duties,  all  the  kinds  of  activity  to  which  the 
pastor  is  called,  except  public  preaching  and  catechising. 

The  expressions  duties  of  the  pastor  and  pastoral  pru- 
dence are  incomplete.  They  present  the  thing  too  much  un- 
der the  point  of  view  of  an  art  or  a  practice.  But  this  point  of 
view  should  not  be  exclusive.  The  speculative  side  should 
have  its  place.  Action  is  the  last  end  of  speculation  ;  but, 
whatever  may  be  the  nature  of  the  action,  it  is  not  sufficiently 
provided  for,  if  attention  be  confined  to  it  in  the  practical  point 
of  view.  It  should  be  studied  abstractly.  We  should  study 
the  theory  of  the  evangelical  ministry,  not  only  to  know  what 
we  have  to  do,  but  also  as  an  objective  fact,  which  simply,  as 
such,  demands  our  acquaintance.  Abstract  speculation  is  of 
high  utility.  He  who  regards  the  things  of  his  profession 
only  in  the  midst  of  action,  will  act  neither  with  freedom,  nor 
with  intelligence,  nor  with  depth.  Hence,  among  other  rea- 
sons, this  course  is  called  the  Theory  of  the  Evangelical 
Ministry. 

Perhaps  our  distribution  is  not  exactly  right.  Catechetics, 
homiletics,  etc.,  are  not,  perhaps,  different  in  substance  from 
Pastoral  Theology.  Still,  on  account  of  the  extent  of  these 
divisions,  of  the  detail  which  they  require,  and  of  the  dispro- 
portioned  space  they  would  necessarily  occupy  if  they  should 
be  treated  in  all  their  breadth  in  a  course  of  Pastoral  Theol- 
ogy, we  separate  them,  intending  to  pursue  the  study  of  them 
when  we  shall  be  more  at  leisure.  We  are  far  from  suppos- 
ing that  the  chief  one  of  these  categories  represents  a  whole, 
or  even  a  reality  :  the  reality  exists  only  in  the  assemblage 
of  the  three  functions,  Worship,  Preaching,  and  Catechising. 
By  th"e  very  idea' of  a  minister,  these  all  belong  to  him.  He 
would  not  otherwise  be  a  minister.  Not  that  these  functions 
may  not  be  distinguished  and  even  separated — but  they  never 
should  be  after  an  exclusive  manner ;  that  is  to  say,  in  such 
a  manner  that  he  who  exercises  one  is  not  to  exercise  the 
others  ;  for  they  mutually  suppose  and  contain  one  another. 


PRIMITIVE    DIVISION    OF    THE    MINISTRY.  23 

Nevertheless,  the  idea  of  this  unity  has  its  date  ;  it  is  a 
Christian  idea.  All  religions  have  not  conceived  nor  real- 
ized it. 

In  the  Old  Testament  the  office  of  priest  and  of  prophet 
ibrmed  two  distinct  offices.  It  accords  with  the  Old  Testa- 
ment to  distinguish,  as  it  does  with  the  New  to  blend  these 
two.  The  two  systems  are  characterized  hy  these  two  facts. 
Perfect  unity  between  the  form  and  the  idea  did  not  yet  ex- 
ist, and  could  not  enter  except  with  the  law  of  spirituality 
and  of  liberty.  On  one  side  and  the  other,  as  on  two  dis- 
tinct planes,  were  represented  the  letter  which  kills,  and  the 
spirit  which  gives  life.  The  economy  which  was  to  unite 
them  in  one  whole,  was  also  to  unite  in  one  and  the  same 
man  the  priest  and  the  prophet. 

On  this  point  the  primitive  Chuich  presents  us  a  phenom- 
enon analogous  to  the  whole  genius  of  its  economy,  which  did 
not  rudely  repudiate  all  the  traditions  of  the  theocracy.  It 
divides  the  ministry  into  many  different  ministries.  It  does 
not  appear  that  all  ministers  did  the  same  things,  nor  that 
all  did  all  things.  It  would  seem,  from  Ephesians,  iv.,  11, 
and  1  Corinthians,  xii.,  28,  30,  that  this  division  of  labor*  had 
been  formally  instituted  by  the  supreme  Head  of  the  Church ; 
but  whether  this  was  so,  or  whether  we  ought  to  regard  it 
only  as  a  providential  dispensation — whether  the  distribution 
of  extraordinary  gifts  (xapiopara)  explains  the  thing- to  us, 
there  is  na  evidence  that  this  distinction,  of  which  besides 
it  is  very  difficult  to  form  a  just  idea,  ought  to  be  maintain- 
ed as  an  immutable  institution.  At  any  rate,  to  renew 

*  It  does  not  appear  that  this  division  of  labor  was  of  an  exclusive 
character.  We  see  (Acts,  vi.,  10)  that  Stephen,  the  deacon  (verse  3), 
was  a  preacher  or  a  prophet.  The  rite  and  the  word  are  separated 
by  St.  Paul  (1  Cor.,  i.,  17) :  "  Christ  sent  me  not  to  baptize."  Besides, 
this  is  not  a  question  of  rite.  Either  it  is  altogether  apart  from  reli- 
gion, which  can  not  be  admitted,  or  it  does  not  exclusively  belong  to 
one  of  these  classes  of  officers.  This,  however,  is  not  saying  that  all 
may  celebrate  it. 

"  ••    "^-  •<*'- : 

• 


..•  '    -  °^>*_c,    • 

,*. .    «    **•      I 

24  OFFICE    OP    PASTOE. 

•  *  -.y.  •  * 

it,  it  is  necessary  to  renew  the  ^apia^ara,  "  the  spiritual 
gifts." 

It  is  very  manifest  that  they  regarded  as  ministers  of  the 
Church  men  whose  qualifications  did  not  fit  them  for  minis- 
ters, according  to  the  sense  which  we  now  attach  to  the  word . 
There  were  deacons,  appointed  to  serve  tables  ;  there  were 
presbyters  (whence  comes  the  word,  not  the  idea,  of  priest), 
who  did  not  teach-;  but  it  is  clear,  from  1  Tim.,  v.,  17,*  that 
those  among  them  who  taught  were  of  the  first  rank,  were 
reputed  the  first,  since  the  word  is  the  grand  instrument,  and 
the  essential  character  of  the  evangelical  dispensation  ;  and 
it  is,  in  fact,  to  this  class  of  presbyters  that  the  title  of  min- 
ister or  pastor  has,  in  the  end,  been  exclusively  attributed  ; 
and  this  class  has  absorbed  in  itself  all  the  other  classes,  so 
as  to  constitute  in  itself  alone  the  ministry  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

The  evangelical  ministry  is  essentially  a  ministry  of  the 
word  ;  all  the  other  ministries  are  in  the  service  of  that  one  ; 
they  are  so  many  ways  of  speaking  the  Word  of  God.  Chris- 
tianity is  a  word,  a  thought  of  God,  which  is  destined  to  be- 
come a  thought  of  man.  Now  thought  and  speech  are  insep- 
arable ;  thought  is  an  interior  speech,  and  in  the  ancient 
languages  the  same  word  signifies  the  two  things  (Aoyoc). 
That  great  revolution,  which  we  call  the  advent  of  Christ 
and  of  the  Gospel,  has  not  rejected  worship  and  symbol,  but 
has  spiritualized  it,  has  approximated  it  to  thought,  and  thus 
even  to  speech.  The  minister  is  a  man  who  speaks  the  word 
of  God ;  he  does  not  recite  it.  The  priest  was  a  slave,  but 
the  minister  has  free  intercourse  with  God.  And  as,  since 
the  unhappy  and  forced  exclusion  of  the  laity,  there  are,  for 
example,  no  more  ministers  of  alms,  of  science,  etc.,  the  min- 
ister combines  in  himself  all  these  offices,  because  he  is  the 
minister  par  excellence. 

*  "  Let  the  elders  that  rule  well  be  counted  worthy  of  double  hon 
or,  especially  they  who  labor  in  word  and  doctrine." 


CATHOLIC    IDEA.  25 

The  minister,  in  this  way  the  inheritor  of  all  the  diverse 
ministries  of  the  Church,  has  taken,  in  the  plenitude  of  his 
qualifications  and  of  his  activity,  the  name  of  pastor.  It  is 
remarkable  that  this  name,  of  all  others,  is  the  most  rarely 
applied  to  the  minister  in  the  New  Testament. 

What  is  a  pastor  ? 

His  name  tells  us  :  he  feeds  ;  he  nourishes  souls  with  a 
word  which  is  not  his  own  (as  the  shepherd  nourishes  his 
sheep  on  grass  which  he  does  not  make  to  grow).  But  ho 
feeds  them  by  means  of  his  own  word,  which  reproduces  and 
appropriates  to  their  various  wants  the  Divine  Word,  and  be- 
comes, in  turn,  a  word  of  instruction,  of  direction,  of  exhorta- 
tion, of  reproof,  of  encouragement,  and  of  consolation. 

The  word  is,  then,  his  instrument ;  but  it  is  not  every 
thing ;  the  pastorate  should  be  regarded  as  a  paternity;  and, 
after  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  minister  should  sym- 
pathize in  all  the  interests  and  all  the  afflictions  of  his  nock. 
He  ought  to  be  at  once  almoner,  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
schoolmaster. 

Such,  in  our  Church,  is  the  idea  of  a  pastor.  The  Cath- 
olic Church  regards  it  altogether  otherwise.  It  was  impos- 
sible, because  of  our  sinfulness,  that  the  Christian  Church 
should  not  have  been  tempted  to  forsake  its  .first  steps.  We 
all  have  a  propensity  to  backslide  :  nothing  is  so.  active  in 
us  as  a  tendency  to  return  to  what  God  has  abolished.  As 
early  as  the  time  of  Chrysostom,  the  essence  of  the  pastor's 
office  was  regarded  as  consisting  in  the  administration  of  the 
sacrament.  This  was  his  own  view.*  It  was  a  return  to 
the  ancient  law,  and  it  was  one  of  the  first  traces  of  the  ex- 
clusive importance  that  the  Catholic  Church  afterward  gave 
to  this  part  of  the  duties  of  a  minister. 

In  the  number,  and  at  the  head  of  the  Jewish  ideas,  of 
which  Catholicism  is  full,  we  must  place,  without  doubt,  the 

*  A  beautifu  passage,  De  Sacerdotio,  lib.,  c.  iv.  See  Appendix, 
note  A 

B 

D  -..  •. 


.»* 


26  RITE    AND    THE    WORD. 

real  presence.  God  is  as  really  present  in  the  Catholic  wor 
ship  as  he  was  in  the  Levitical.  I  venture  to  say,  that,  as- 
suming the  spirituality  of  Christianity,  this  resemblance  it- 
self condemns  Catholicism.  "  Yea,  though  we  have  known 
Christ  after  the  flesh,  yet  now  henceforth  know  him  no  more." 
—2  Cor.,  v.,  16. 

By  this  means  alone  we  are  carried  back  to  caste  ;  for  ac- 
cording to  this,  any  individual  whatever  of  the  priesthood 
may  properly  celebrate  rites ;  so  that  the  personal  character 
is  as  nothing.  In  the  communities  where  the  idea  of  pries*. 
reigns,-the  individuality  being  of  small  importance,  the  cor- 
porate power  must  proportionately  prevail.* 

With  us  a  minister  is  essentially  a  minister  of  the  word  , 
so  far  from  the  word's  becoming  a  rite,  the  rite  becomes  the 
word.  We  take,  in  the  fullest  acceptation,  the  sense  of  the 
apostles,  who  refer  the  work  of  the  Gospel  to  the  incarnation 
of  the  word ;  and  we  find  nothing  too  strong  in  these  ex- 
pressions of  Erasmus  :  "  Diabolus  concionator :  Satanas,  per 
serpentcm  LOQTIENS,  seduxit  humamim  genus.  Deus,  per 
flium  LOQUENS,  reduxit  ores  erraticas."1[ 

This  ministry  (essentially  moral,  since  the  word  constitutes 
its  essence)  does  not  suffer  the  word  to  materialize  itself,  and 
turn  itself  into  a  rite.  It  aims  to  be  the  action  of  soul  upon 
soul,  and  of  liberty  on  liberty.  Before  all,  after  all,  it  re- 
mains a  virtue.  The  Catholic  Church,  while  it  appears  to 
give  more  of  authority  and  more  of  action  to  the  pastor,  really 
contracts  the  pastoral  office,  by  stereotyping  the  first  forms 
under  which  it  exercises  itself,!  and  in  prescribing  as  rites 
what  ought  to  be  suggested  on  each  occasion  by  charity  and 

*  See  LAMENNAIS,  Affaires  de  Rome. 

t  The  Devil  is  a  preacher :  Satan,  speaking  by  the  serpent,  has 
seduced  mankind.  God,  speaking  by  his  Son,  has  brought  back  the 
wandering  sheep. — Ecdesiastes,  lib.  i. 

t  It  has  given  one  fixed  form  for  each  of  the  inspirations  of  pastor- 
al love. 


RITE    AND    THE    WORD.  27 

by  wisdom,  according  to  man's  wants  and  circumstances.  In 
the  one  case  there  is  a  real  library ;  in  the  other,  a  library 
imitated  in  wood.  In  both  communions  there  is  confession  ; 
but  in  one  it  is  a  confession  of  the  heart,  in  the  other  a  pre- 
scribed confession  ;  a  confession  which,  of  course,  ceasing  to  be 
moral  and  true,  amounts  to  nothing.  Here  is  the  abuse  of 
Catholicism  ;  but  let  it  not  be  exaggerated  :  Catholicism,  as 
it  has  the  cross,  is  also  acquainted  with  the  spirituality  of 
the  Gospel.  Moreover,  among  the  Catholics,  strong  protes- 
tations have  arisen  against  the  exclusive  predominance  of 
rite,  especially  from  the  Jansenists,  who  attach  to  preach- 
ing a  very  great  importance,  considering  it  as  the  greatest 
and  the  most  awful  of  mysteries.*  This  idea  would  lead  us 
far  from  St.  Augustine,  who  saw  in  the  eucharist  the  only 
awful  mystery.  It  is  thought  that  there  is  no  mystery  in 
the  action  of  soul  on  soul,  through  the  word,  because  this  is 
an  ordinary  affair  ;  as  if  that  which  is  ordinary  was  not  often 
most  mysterious  and  unsearchable.  The  same  word  acts  in 
one  manner  on  one,  in  another  manner  on  another.  With- 
out doubt,  the  character  of  the  individual  has  much  influence 
on  the  result ;  but  whence  comes  it  that  an  ardent  preacher 
often  produces  no  effect,  while  a  feeble  preacher  often  ploughs 
the  deepest  furrows  in  the  souls  of  men  ?  How  many  who 
have  been  untouched  by  the  one  have  been  saved  by  the 
other  !  How  often,  by  a  single  word,  is  the  hearer  converted  ! 
Is  not  the  dispensation  which  moves  one  soul,  a  single  soul 
in  a  whole  crowd  that  remains  cold,  one  of  the  greatest  of 
mysteries  ?  Preaching  is,  indeed,  a  mystery  the  profoundest 
of  all ;  one  which  embraces  a  multitude  of  other  mysteries. 
In  fact,  it  is  God  who  preaches,  and  man  is  only  his  instru- 
ment. 

The  form  of  the  ministry,  then,  is  the  word.     The  design 
of  the  ministry  is  to  subject  to  the  discipline  of  Christ,  "  to 
lead  captive  to  his  obedience,"  souls  which  are  appointed  to 
*  See  the  quotation  from  St.  Cyran,  in  the  Appendix,  note  B. 


28  NAMES    GIVEN    TO    MINISTERS 

it.  It  is  to  perpetuate,  to  increase,  to  establish  continually 
the  kingdom  of  God  on  the  earth. 

To  unfold  this  idea  in  its  different  aspects,  let  us  recall 
with  Burnet*  the  different  names  given  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment to  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  And  let  us  first  remark, 
that  in  the  ecclesiastical  as  in  the  political  sphere,  all  the 
names  of  functions,  of  dignity,  etc.,  have,  in  their  origin,  an 
altogether  different  sense,  an  altogether  different  force,  from 
that  which  usage  has  at  the  same  time  consecrated  and  en- 
feebled. It  happens  to  them  as  to  proper  names,  which  are 
no  more  than  arbitrary  signs,  after  having  been  truly  signifi- 
cant. At  the  beginning  of  an  institution  truly  original,  the 
names  of  offices  express  duties,  affections,  hopes  ;  it  is  the 
soul  that  gives  the  name — and  the  name  which  it  uses  ex- 
presses less  a  power,  exactly  defined,  a  legal  qualification, 
than  a  virtue  to  be  exercised,  an  idea  to  be  realized.  All 
true  names  are  adjectives,  which  become  substantives  by  the 
lapse  of  time. 

1 .  Deacon  (a  word  which  we  translate  by  minister)  signi- 
fies servant,  joining  with  it  the  idea  of  liberty. t  The  word 
deacon,  like  all  words  which  pertain  to  an  institution,  has 
had  the  fortune  of  naming,  instead  of  what  the  thing  ought 
to  be,  instead  of  the  ideal  of  the  thing,  that  which  it  has  be- 
come, that  which  it  has  been  made  by  accident,  at  a  certain 
tune  and  in  certain  circumstances — a  form  of  the  thing  rather 
than  the  thing  itself;  the  ideal  sense  gives  place  to  the  his- 
torical, and  the  historical  becomes  the  law  of  the  idea.  The 
word  deacon  has  received  a  special  meaning ;  but  it  was  at 
first  general ;  and  it  designated,  without  distinction,  any  min- 
ister or  servant  of  the  Gospel.  "  Who  then  is  Paul,  and  who 
is  Apollos,  but  ministers  (deacons)  by  whom  ye  believed,  even 
as  the  Lord  gave  to  every  man." — 1  Cor.,  iii.,  5.  "  Giving 
no  offense  in  any  thing,  that  our  ministry  (deaconship)  be  not 

*  BURNET  :  A  Discourse  of  the  Pastoral  Care,  p.  44. 

t  Of  Cvmmiitio* :  Committed  to  a  certain  office — Commissary 


IN    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT.  20 

blamed." — 2  Cor.,  vi.,  3.  "  Whereof  I  have  been  made  a 
minister  (a  deacon)  by  the  gift  of  the  grace  of  God,  which  he 
hath  given  unto  me  by  the  effectual  working  of  his  power." 
— Eph.,  iii.,  7.  "Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  hath  enabled  me, 
for  that  he  counted  me  to  be  faithful,  putting  me  into  the 
ministry  (the  dcaconship)." — 1  Tim.,  i.,  12.  "  The  Gospel 
of  which  I,  Paul,  was  made  a  minister  (a  deacon)." — Col.,  i., 
23.  For  the  special  and  later  sense,  gee  1  Tim.,  iii.,  8  : 
"  The  deacons*  must  be  grave." — 1  Tim.,  iii.,  12.  "  Let  the 
deacons  be  the  husbands  of  one  wife  ;"  and,  Romans,  xvi.,  1 : 
"  I  commend  to  you  Phebe,  a  deaconess,  of  the  Chureh  of 
Cenchrea." 

We  are  struck  with  the  title  of  deacon,  as  a  special  title, 
because  a  particular  institution  has  appropriated  this  name  ; 
but  in  the  first  series  of  passages  that  we  have  cited,  it  is  not 
more  special  than  is  the  word  douAo?  (slave,  servant),  in 
Philippians,  i.,  1  :  "  Paul  and  Timothy,  slaves  or  servants  of 
Jesus  Christ."  And  how  has  it  happened  that  the  members 
of  the  clergy  do  not  bear  the  name  of  douli  (JovAot),  and 
the  ministry  that  of  douleia  (dovXeid),  as  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  clergy  have  taken  the  name  of  deacons,  and  their 
function,  that  of  the  diaconate  ? 

2.  Presbyter  (elder).  "  Let  the  elders  who  rule  well  be 
counted  worthy  of  double  honor." — 1  Tim.,  v.,  17.  "  They 
sent  to  the  elders  by  the  hands  of  Barnabas." — Acts,  xi.,  30. 
Acts,  xv.,  passim.  "  He  sent  from  Miletus  to  Ephesus,  and 
called  the  elders  of  the  Church." — Acts,  xx.,  17.  "I  left 
thee  in  Crete,  that  thou  shouldst  ordain  elders  in  every  city." 
— Titus,  i.,  5.  "Is  any  among  you  sick,  let  him  call  for  the 
elders  of  the  Church." — James,  v.,  14. 

Our  versions  commonly  render  npeo6vTepoc.  by  pastor, 
which  we  scarcely  find  applied  to  ministers  except  in  Ephe- 
sians,  iv.,  11  :  "Some  pastors  and  teachers." 

*  The  New  Testament  of  the  Vaudois  ministers,  Lausanne,  1839, 
translates,  Servants  of  the  Assembly. 


30  BISHOP APOSTLE. 

3.  Bishop  appears  to  be  the  synonym  of  elder,  in  Titus, 
i.,  5,7  :  "  That  thou  shouldst  ordain  ciders."     "  Now  a  bish- 
op must  be  without  blame ;"  and  in  Acts,  xx.,  17,  28,  Paul 
calls  the  elders  of  Ephesus,  and  commends  to  them  the  flock 
over  which'  the  Holy  Ghost  has  made  them  bishops.     See 
also  Philippians,  i.,  1  :  "  Paul  and  Timothy  to  the  bishops 
and  deacons,"  etc.  ;  and,  1  Tim.,  iii.,  2  :  "  A  bishop  must 
be  without  blame." 

This  does  not  forbid  that  there  should  be  bishops  over  oth- 
er bishops — inspectors  of  inspectors  :  "Against  an  elder  re- 
ceive not  an  accusation,  but  before  two  or  three  witnesses." — 
1  Tim.,  v.,  19  ;  and  Titus,  i.,  5,  cited  above.  But  this  does 
not  suppose  an  institution,  it  was  only  an  expedient. 

4.  Apostles  or  Delegates. — "  Our  brethren — they  are  apos- 
tles of  the  churches,*  and  the  glory  of  Christ."  —  2  Cor., 
viii.,  23. 

It  must,  however,  be  remembered  that  the  word  is  applied 
/car'  et-o%r)v  (par  excellence),  to  the  immediate  envoys  of  Je- 
sus Christ,  in  Acts,  ii.,  42  :  "  They  persevered  in  the  doctrine 
of  the  apostles." 

Our  intention  is  not  to  determine  the  work,  the  particular 
function,  which  each  of  these  names  designates. t  We  believe 
that  the  words  elder  and  bishop  denote  officers  of  churches, 
whether  they  were  or  were  not  charged  with  the  function  of 
teaching,  a  function  attached  to  a  gift  or  a  grace,  which 
does  not  appear  to  have  determined  the  designation  of  eld- 
ers or  bishops,  since  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  of  these 
words  appears  in  the  famous  passages,  Ephesians,  iv.,  11,  and 
1  Cor.,  xii.,  28-30.  And  as  for  the  word  deacon,  it  has  a 
sense  much  more  general,  and  also  a  sense  much  more  spe- 

*  Messengers  of  the  Assemblies. — Translation  of  the  Vaudois 
ministers. 

\  Consult  NEANDKR  on  this:  Geschichle  der  Apostel,  i.,  1,  p.  37-47. 
VILLEMAIN  :  M&ws  des  Chretiens  pendant  les  trois  premieres  Siecle.i,  p 
178,  et  nnv. 


r'*. •-;.;;•  r 

PASTOE.  31 

cial  than  the  two  others,  designating  either  any  kind  of  Gos- 
pel work,  or  a  very  particular  function  in  a  church.  Our 
object,  witlumt  stopping  to  distinguish  the  different  applica- 
tions of  the  ministry,  is  solely  to  explain,  by  means  of  words, 
characters  common  to  all — characters  of  the  evangelical  min- 
istry, in  whatever  department  it  may  be  exercised.  What 
we  have  found  in  the  three  first  words,  that  is  to  say,  with- 
out going  beyond  the  proper  terms,  and  before  approaching 
figures,  are  the  ideas  of  voluntary  service,  of  authority  (found- 
ed in  one  case  on  age),  and  of  oversight.*  But  it  is  proba- 
ble that  figurative  expressions  will  instruct  us  further  ;  for 
their  purpose,  in  every  subject,  is  to  descend  to  a  greater  depth 
in  the  idea  than  the  expression  strictly  conveys.  We  proceed 
then  to  cite  figurative  expressions,  which  unquestionably  are 
applied,  by  anticipation,  to  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 

1 .  Pastor  is  not,  as  we  may  be  inclined  to  think,  the  syno- 
nym of  elder,  but  that  of  teacJier. — See  Ephesians,  iv.,  1 1 . 
We-  have  already  said  that  the  office  of  elder  or  administra- 
tor is  not  embraced  in  that  solemn  distribution  of  powers  or 
virtues  (%apiafiara),  of  which  we  have  before  spoken.  More- 
over, the  passage  in  Ephesians,  iv.,  11,  is  the  only  one  in 
which  the  title  of  pastor  is  directly  applied  to  ministers  of 
the  Gospel ;  but,  without  doubt,  it  is  applied  to  them  indi- 
rectly when  Jesus  Christ  is  called  the  Shepherd  (pastor)  and 
bishop  of  our  souls  (1  Peter,  ii.,  25),  and  when  Jesus  Christ 
said  to  Simon,  "Feed  my  sheep." — John,  xxi.,  16,  17. 

The  word  pastor,  taken  in  a  figurative  sense,  occurs  in  the 
Old  Testament,  but  it  is  there  applied  indifferently  to  proph- 
ets and  to  magistrates. t  Besides,  in  the  sense  of  the  Theoc- 

*  M.  Vinet  did  not  add,  until  after  a  revision  of  his  lecture,  the  word 
apostle  to  this  first  series  of  names,  which  no  doubt  is  the  reason  that 
lie  does  not  here  present  the  idea  of  mission,  which  is  included  in  the 
fourth. 

t  IlojjittW  \da>v.  "  It  has  almost  come  to  pass  that  religion  and 
justice  keep  pace  in  the  republic,  and  that  men  are  consecrated  by 


32  OTHER    NAMES    GIVEN    TO    MINISTERS. 

racy,  magistrates  were  pastors,  even  as  pastors  were  mag- 
istrates. They  were  two  forms  of  the  same  employment. 
Nevertheless,  in  Ezekiel,  xxxiv.,  passim,  it  is  admirably  ap- 
plied to  a  pastor,  in  the  actual  sense  of  the  word. 

2.  Steward  or  Dispenser. — "  Let  a  man  so  account  of  us 
as  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God  ;  moreover,  it  is  required 
of  stewards  that  a  man  be  found  faithful." — 1  Cor.,  iv.,  1,  2. 

3.  Embassador.  —  "Now,  then,  we  are  embassadors  for 
Christ."— 2  Cor.,  v.,  20. 

4.  Angel  or  messenger. — "  The  seven  stars  are  the  angels 
of  the  seven  Churches." — Apoc.,  i.,  20. 

5.  Ruler. — "Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you" 
(rreideode  rotf  ^yovjitfivoZf  fytwv). — Hebrews,  xiii.,  17. 

6.  Builder. — "  I  have  laid  the  foundation  as  a  wise  mas- 
ter-builder."— 1  Cor.,  iii.,  10. 

7.  Workman. — "  We  are  workers  together  with  God  ;  ye 
are  God's  husbandry,  God's  building." — 1  Cor.,  i.,  19.     "A 
householder  hired  laborers  into  his  vineyard." — Matt.,  xx.,  1. 
"  The  harvest  is  great,  but  the  laborers  are  few  ;  pray,  then, 
the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send  forth  laborers  into  his  har- 
vest."— Matt.,  ix.,  37,  38.     "I  have  planted,  Apollos  water- 
ed, but  God  giveth  the  increase." — 1  Cor.,  iii.,  6. 

8.  Soldier. — "  Epaphroditus,  my  fellow-soldier." — Philip- 
pians,  ii.,  25.     "  Endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ." — 2  Tim.,  xi.,  3. 

Let  us  first  remark  that,  of  all  the  designations  by  which 
we  might  expect  to  see  the  minister  of  religion  defined  or 
characterized,  only  one  is  wanting  in  the  New  Testament. 
It  is  that  of  priest,  although  it  is  the  Christian  word  presby- 
ter which  has  furnished  the  word  priest.  There  may  be 
priests  in  those  religions  which  wait  for  the  true  and  sover- 
eign Priest ;  there  are  none  in  that  religion  which  has  re- 

the  magistrate  as  well  as  by  the  priesthood." — LA  BRUYERE,  Lcs  Car- 
actires ;  the  chapter  entitled  De  quelques  usages.  See  BURNET,  A  Dis- 
course of  the  Pastoral  Care,  page  45. 


THE    CHRISTIAN    MINISTER.  33 

ceived  and  which  believes  in  him.  In  this  no  one  is  priest, 
because  every  one  is  priest ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  in  the 
Gospel  it  is  only  to  Christians  in  general  that  this  word  is 
applied.  See  1  Peter,  ii.,  9  :  "  Ye  are  a  chosen  people,"  "  a 
royal  priesthood,"*  etc. — the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy  of 
Isaiah,  Ixi.,  6  :  "  Ye  shall  be  called  the  priests  of  the  Lord, 
and  ye  shall  be  named  the  ministers  of  our  God." 

It  was  necessary  to  have  a  sacrifice  perpetuating  the  only 
and  once  accomplished  sacrifice,  in  order  to  recover  the  idea 
of  the  ancient  priesthood,  which  was  absorbed  in  the  supreme 
and  eternal  priesthood  of  Jesus  Christ. 

For  us,  who  do  not  receive  the  real  presence,  what  remains 
in  the  minister  when  once  the  supernatural  gifts  have  ceased  ? 
The  Christian,  only  the  Christian,  consecrating  his  activity 
to  make  others  Christians,  and  to  confirm  in  Christianity 
those  who  have  embraced  this  religion.  He  does  habitually 
what  occasionally,  and  in  a  special  manner,  all  Christians 
should  do.  He  does  it  with  a  degree  of  authority  proportion- 
ed to  what  we  may  suppose  a  man  has  of  knowledge  and  fit- 
ness, who  has  consecrated  himself  exclusively  to  that  work. 
But  he  has  no  revelation  peculiar  to  himself.  In  announcing 
the  wisdom  of  God  as  a  mystery  (1  Cor.,  ii.,  7),  in  giving 
himself  to  be  a  steward  of  the  mysteries  of  God,  he  does  not 
profess  to  be  more  inspired  than  the  humblest  believer.  He 
is  a  steward,  a  manager  of  the  common  interest ;  he  does 
not  take,  like  Jesus  Christ,  of  that  which  is  his  own  (John, 
xvi.,  15),  but  of  that  which  belongs  to  all.  If  he  thinks  it 
is  right,  according  to  the  word  of  St.  Paul,  that  believers 
should  obey  him  as  their  spiritual  ruler,  the  sense  in  which 
he  understands  this  leaves  intact  the  liberty  arid  responsibil- 
ity of  those  who  obey.  He  protests  against  the  idea  of  dom- 
ineering over  the  heritage  of  the  Lord,  1  Peter,  v.,  3,  com- 
pared with  2  Cor.,  i.,  24  :  "Not  that  we  have  dominion  over 

*  Boo&fiov  Uparevpa.  See  NEANDBR,  Getchichtt  der  Apostel,  i.,  162, 
163. 

B  2 

,-* 


34  A    SERVANT    OF    HUMANITY. 

your  faith."  He  opposes,  also,  the  individuality  and  inde- 
pendence of  a  Christian  to  the  servile  credulity  of  the  idola- 
ter :  "Ye  know  that  ye  were  Gentiles  drawn  away  toward 
dumb  idols,  even  as  ye  were  led." — 1  Cor.,  xii.,  2. 

The  idea  of  service*  covers  all  the  titles  which  he  gives 
and  the  authority  which  he  attributes  to  himself :  He  rejects 
every  idea  of  his  own  power :  "  Who,  then,  are  Paul  and 
Apollos  but  servants  ?" — 1  Cor.,  iii.,  22.  And  remark  that 
these  rulers,  these  embassadors,  call  themselves  servants  not 
only  of  God,  but  of  believers  themselves.  If  they  say,  "  Let 
every  one  so  account  of  us  as  servants  of  Jesus  Christ"  (1 
Cor.,  iv.,  1),  they  also  say  "  Ourselves  your  servants  for  Je- 
sus' sake." — 2  Cor.,  iv.,  5.  "  Whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or 
Cephas  ....  all  is  yours,  and  ye  are  Christ's,  and  Christ  is 
God's."t— 1  Cor.,  iii.,  22. 

Examine  all  the  titles,  all  the  names  which  are  given  to 
ministers  in  the  Gospel,  you  will  not  find  one  which  goes  be- 
yond the  limits  of  this  idea,  the  servant  of  humanity,  in  its 
great  interest,  from  the  love  of  God.  All  is  noble  in  this 
institution,  which  rejects  every  force  except  of  persuasion, 
has  no  other  end  but  the  reign  of  truth,  and  is  not  distin- 
guished except  by  a  more  absolute  devotion. 

Still,  all  these  words,  all  these  metaphors,  all  the  addi- 
tional passages,  do  not  attain  to  the  complete  sum  of  the  ele- 
ments of  the  ministry — to  the  ideal  of  a  pastor.  We  have 
need  of  a  type,  a  model,  a  personification,  of  each  idea. 
Where  shall  we  look  for  it  ?  If  any  one  has  been  the  type 
of  man,  he  has  been,  at  the  same  time,  the  type  of  a  pastor : 

*  Aou\os  is  a  name  more  than  once  applied  to  apostles. — See  Rom.r 
L,  1 ;  Gal.,  i.,  10  ;  Phil.,  i.,  1 ;  Col.,  iv.,  12  ;  2  Tim.,  ii.,  24;  Tit.,  i.,  1  ; 
James,  i.,  1 ;  2  Peter,  i.,  1 ;  Jude,  i. 

t  As  to  the  speedy  appearance  of  the  contrary  principle,  or  the  per- 
sonal authority  of  the  priest,  see  SCHWARZ,  Katechetic,  p.  11, 12.  Soon 
after  the  apostolh  age  appear  the  clergy  and  the  hierarchy.  Note  C. 
Apprndix. 


IDEAL    OF    THE    MINISTER.  35 

for  it  is  impossible  that  the  pastor  should  not  make  a  part  of 
the  ideal  of  man — impossible  that  he,  in  whom  the  perfection 
of  human  nature  was  fully  represented,  should  not  have  been 
a  pastor. 

This  new  man,  this  second  Adam,  could  not  have  been 
such  except  by  love.  The  first  object  of  love  is  that  which 
is  immortal  in  man  :  It  is,  then,  upon  the  soul  that  love  will 
chiefly  exercise  itself ;  and  as  we  can  not  do  good  to  the  soul 
except  through  its  regeneration,  and  as  it  can  hot  be  regener- 
ated except  by  the  truth,  to  impart  tne  truth,  to  nourish  the 
soul  with  truth,  to  feed  it  thus  in  green  pastures,  and  along 
tranquil  waters,  was  necessarily  the  office  of  a  perfect  man, 
of  the  type  of  man  :  He  must  have  been  a  pastor. 

Christ  also  has  said,  "  I  am  the  good  Shepherd"  (John,  x., 
11) ;  and  again,  "  I  am  come  to  serve,  and  not  to  be  served."* 
— Matt.,  xx.,  28. 

Also,  his  immediate  disciples  have  named  him  "The  chief 
Shepherd  (pastor)  and  Bishop  of  our  souls." — 1  Peter,  ii.,  25. 

And  he  himself  has  given  the  most  sublime  commentary 
on  this  word  shepherd  in  this  passage  :  "  The  good  shepherd 
gives  his  life  for  his  sheep." — John,  x.,  11.  Here  the  met- 
aphor is  insufficient ;  it  is  not  in  the  idea  of  a  shepherd  to 
give  his  life  for  the  sheep. 

And  what  he  said  he  has  done.  He  not  only  watches  the 
sheep,  but  he  goes  after  them.  He  goes  from  place  to  place. 
John  the  Baptist  remained  in  the  desert. 

And  at  last,  from  a  pastor  he  makes  himself  a  lamb,  sub- 
stituting himself  for  the  lambs  :  He  was  immolated  :  He  is 
"  the  lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." — Apoc., 
xiii.,  8. 

*  "  Summus  Ecclesiastes  Dei  Filius,  qui  est  imago  Patris  absolutis- 
sima,  qui  virtus  et  sapientia  genitoris  est  seterna,  per  quern  Patri  vi- 
sum  est  humane  gentis  largiri  quidquid  bonorum  mortalium  generi 
dare  decreverat,  nullo  alio  cognomine  magnificentius  significantiusve 
denotatur  in  sacris  litteris,  quam  quum  dicitur  verbum,  sive,  sermo 
Dei." — ERASMUS,  EcclesiAstf.s,  lib.  i. 


36  IDEAL    OF    THE    MINISTER. 

This  divine  pastor,  who  behooved  to  be,  according  to  Saint 
Bernard,  the  pastor  of  the  worlds  in  the  heavens,  and  who 
has  made  himself  that  of  humanity,  has  embraced  in  his  so- 
licitude all  the  interests  of  humanity ;  for  which  he  accom- 
plished, during  the  days  of  his  flesh,  both  the  good  which  it 
desires,  and  the  good  which  it  does  not  desire. 

In  conclusion,  for  we  have  reserved  this  trait  for  the  last, 
he  has,  of  deliberate  purpose,  without  external  necessity  (in 
every  thing,  indeed,  circumstances  concurred  with  his  will), 
symbolized  the  spirit  of  the  ministry  in  washing  the  feet  of  his 
disciples  ;  nor  did  he  by  silence  permit  this  symbol  to  remain 
obscure. — John  xiii.,  5,  14,  15,  16.  If,  as  he  said  himself 
on  that  occasion,  "  the  servant  is  not  greater  than  his  mas- 
ter," we  have  found  the  idea  of  a  pastor.  We  ought  to  be 
servants  ;  but  the  notion  of  service,  in  its  plenitude,  contains 
that  of  sacrifice.  The  minister  is,  as  he  ought  to  be,  a  per- 
manent victim.  It  may  be  said  that  the  Christian  is  already 
a  victim  ;  this  term  expresses  no  more  as  to  the  pastor.  The 
objection  only  gives  force  to  our  assertion  ;  for  if  the  Chris- 
tian is  a  victim,  much  more  the  pastor,  who  is  a  Christian 
by  office. 

On  the  whole  :  The  pastor  is  nothing  more  by  name  than 
a  steward  of  the  word  of  God.  He  is  a  man  who  has  con- 
secrated himself  to  break  to  the  multitude  the  bread  of 

truth.     He  is  a  man  who  has  devoted  himself  to  apply to 

appropriate  to  men  the  redemptive  work  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,*  since  God  has  determined  to  save  men  by  the  fool- 
ishness of  preaching.  As  Jesus  Christ  is  sent  of  God,  he  is 
sent  by  Jesus  Christ.  He  comes,  on  his  part,  to  do  from 
gratitude  all  that  Jesus  Christ  did  from  pure  love.  He  re- 
produces every  thing  of  Jesus  Christ  except  his  merits.  As 
to  the  obligations  imposed  on  him,  he  is  neither  less  nor  more 

*  "  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  to  himself,  and  has 
committed  to  us  the  word  of  reconciliation." — 2  Cor.,  v.,  19. 


HYMN.  37 

than  his  master.  He  does,  under  the  auspices  of  divine  mercy, 
all  that  Jesus  Christ  did  under  the  weight  of  the  divine  wrath. 
By  word,  hy  works,  and  by  obedience,  he  perpetuates  Jesus 
Christ. 

v-  >  ... 

HYMN. 

King  of  glory  and  man  of  sorrows  !  whoever  has  loved  thee 
has  suffered,  whoever  loves  thee  consents  to  suffer.  He  com- 
mits himself  at  once  to  glory  and  to  sorrow. 

On  thy  account  he  suffers  even  in  dreams ;  so  suffered, 
without  knowing  thee,  the  wife  of  the  judge  who  delivered 
thee  up.  Whoever  feebly  loves  thee,  or  whoever  laments 
thee,  can  not  but  find  himself  on  thy  road.  Like  Simon  of 
Cyrene,  he  becomes  a  partaker  of  the  heavy  burden  of  thy 
cross. 

Men  curse  those  who  bless  thee ;  humanity  excludes  them 
from  its  universal  communion  ;  and  in  that  place  of  exile 
from  the  human  family,  they  are  themselves  twice  in  exile. 

All  those  who  have  loved  thee  have  suffered  ;  but  all  those 
who  have  suffered  on  thy  account  have  loved  thee  the  more. 
Grief  unites  us  to  thee,  as  joy  does  to  the  world. 

Like  a  generous  wine,  grief  intoxicates  those  whom  thou 
invitest  to  thy  mysterious  banquet,  and  from  their  contrite 
heart  it  draws  hymns  of  adoration  and  love. 

Happy  he  who,  like  the  Cyrenean,  has  abased  himself  to 
take  his  part  of  the  cross  which  thou  bearest !  Happy  he  who 
would  endure  in  his  body  that  which  remains — that  which 
will  remain  till  the  end  of  the  world,  to  be  borne  of  thy  suffer- 
ings for  the  Church,  thy  body  ! 

Happy  the  faithful  pastor,  who,  in  his  flesh,  partakes  of  thy 
sacrifice  and  thy  conflict !  While  he  struggles  and  groans,  I 
see  him,  in  my  visions,  hidden  in  thy  bosom,  as  on  the  day  of 
the  funereal  banquet,  him  whom  thou  lovedst. 

While  love  bears  him,  bruised  and  bloody,  from  place  to 
place,  and  from  suffering  to  suffering,  he  himself,  unknown 


38  NECESSITY    OF    THE    MINISTRY. 

to  the  world,  reposes  upon  thy  bosom  in  an  august  retreat, 
and  tastes  in  silence  the  sweetness  of  thy  words. 

Happy  the  faithful  pastor !  His  love  multiplies  his  sac- 
rifices, and  his  sacrifices  multiply  his  love.  Love,  which  is 
the  soul  of  his  labors,  is  also  his  exceeding  great  reward. 

Happy  the  faithful  pastor !  That  which  every  Christian 
would  be,  he  has  been.  That  cross,  which  each  one  endures 
in  his  turn,  he  bears  without  ceasing.  That  Jesus,  with 
whom  the  world  incessantly  divides  our  regards,  is  himself 
his  world,  and  the  object  of  his  assiduous  contemplation. 

Happy,  thrice  happy,  if  all  his  desire  is  to  add  some  voices 
to  the  concert  of  the  blessed,  and  to  remain  concealed  in  the 
universal  joy,  only  keeping  in  his  heart  the  invisible  regard 
and  the  everlasting  Well  done.'  of  the  Master  and  the  Father ! 

$  2.  Necessity  of  the  Evangelical  Ministry. 

It  concerns  candidates  for  the  holy  ministry  to  know  wheth- 
er this  office  be  necessary. 

At  the  first  glance  this  inquiry  appears  very  superfluous. 
Facts  precede  proofs  :  we  are  convinced  by  instinct.  Still, 
we  may  ask  (and  a  whole  Christian  community,  that  of  the 
Quakers,*  has  replied  to  the  question  in  the  negative),  Wheth- 
er a  particular  class  of  persons,  consecrated  to  the  administra- 
tion of  worship,  and  to  instruction  in  religion,  is  necessary. 

The  almost  universality  of  the  institution  would  be,  in  the 
eyes  of  many  persons,  a  sufficient  proof  of  its  necessity.  It 
is,  however,  only  a  very  strong  presumption,  after  which  there 
remains  an  open  question. 

We  make  two  kinds  of  replies  :  one,  applicable  to  all  the 
analogies  of  the  ministry  ;  the  other,  to  the  ministry  imme- 
diately. 

I. — 1.  Every  important  office,  relating  to  one  of  the  chief 

*  With  Quakers,  even,  some  persons  from  the  whole  are  invested 
with  a  kind  of  ministry. 


NECESSITY    OP    THB    MINISTRY.  39 

necessities  of  society,  to  one  of  the  essential  elements  of  life, 
requires  special  men  exclusively  devoted  to  that  office.* 

2.  Every  community  requires  and  supposes  officers,  a  gov- 
ernment. That  government  may  be  composed  of  only  one 
class  of  persons,  or  of  many  ;  may  be  more  or  less  rational, 
more  or  less  perfect.  It  matters  not,  the  principle  remains  : 
and  a  society  without  government,  a  society  having  rules, 
and  no  one  to  maintain  or  represent  them,  is  perhaps  more 
inconceivable  than  a  government  without  a  rule  which  limits 
and  directs  its  own  action. 

II. — 1 .  The  office  of  the  ministry  can  not,  in  general,  be 
carried  to  its  true  perfection  except  by  men  who  are  exclu- 
sively devoted  to  it ;  and,  in  general,  many  things  can  only  be 
accomplished  by  such  men. 

2.  In  times  when  religion,  cultivated  scientifically,  has  be- 
come itself  a  science — when,  having  formed  a  multitude  of 
relations  to  private  and  public  life,  it  is  charged  with  a  mass 
of  details  and  applications,  it  is  difficult  for  the  ministry  to 
be  well  and  completely  discharged  by  a  man  who  is  not  ex- 
clusively a  minister. 

3.  There  is,  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  a  limit  at  which 
each  one,  or  the  greater  number,  will  stop,  if  positive  duty 
does  not  oblige  them  to  proceed  ;  each  one  will  take  only 
what  is  convenient  to  him,  and  many  even  will  think  that 
they  have  done  too  much  in  going  so  far. 

When  a  single  person  has  to  decide  a  thing,  he  will  bring 
all  his  conscience  to  it  ;  when  forty  persons,  each  one  will 
bring  the  fortieth  part  of  his  conscience.  When  one  does  not 
consider  his  responsibility  as  entire,  it  is  to  be  feared  he  will 
do  little,  if  any  thing  at  all.  It  would  then  be  in  a  superfi- 

*  The  jury  is  not  an  exception.  It  does  not  exclude  the  office  of 
ludge.  ft  is  only  the  indication  of  an  idea  (which  religion  repro- 
duces in  other  forms),  that  a  society  commits  to  special  men  only 
that  which  all  can  not  do,  and  that  the  commission  ceases  when  those 
who  give  it  can  act  for  themselves. 


40  NECESSITY    OF    THE    MINISTRY. 

cial,  irregular,  and  intermittent  manner  that  the  work  would 
be  done,  if  we  could  not  always  rely  upon  certain  men. 

Zeal  for  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  faith 
in  a  universal  priesthood,  were  certainly  not  less,  than  they 
are  now,  at  the  time  when  the  Holy  Spirit  said,  in  Antioch, 
to  a  college  of  prophets  and  teachers,  already  separated  and 
called  by  him,  "  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the 
work  unto  which  I  have  called  them." — Acts,  xiii.,  2. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  said  that  one  can  not  judge  by  what  is 
now  done  as  to  what  would  be  done  if  believers  would  not 
cast  upon  ministers  the  burden  of  a  ministry  which  belongs 
to  all.  We  believe  that  what  they  would  first  do  would  be 
to  make  ministers.  For  if  it  be  said  that  general  zeal  would 
be  greater  in  the  absence  of  these  special  men,  that  zeal, 
even  at  its  greatest  height,  not  meeting  precisely  all  the 
wants  for  which  the  minister  is  appointed,  would  lead  Chris- 
tians to  do  that  which,  we  think,  indifference  and  idleness 
might  make  them  do ;  that  is  to  say,  to  make  sure,  by  the 
creation  of  a  special  office,  the  satisfaction  of  those  wants  for 
which  they  themselves  would  no  longer  suffice.  The  more 
the  zeal,  the  less  would  they  be  disposed  to  leave  great  in- 
terests to  suffer,  for  the  want  of  special  men  to  take  care  of 
them. 

Huffell*  regards  ministers  of  the  Gospel  as  depositaries 
and  guardians  of  the  principle  of  life  deposited  in  the  Gospel. 
Christianity  is  essentially  a  life  which  transmits  itself;  but  if 
chosen  men  do  not  transmit  it,t  if  that  transmission  of  life  is 
abandoned  to  the  life  itself,  it  will  soon  cease.  Without  the 

*  HUFFELL,  :  Wesen  und  Beruf  des  Evangelisch-christlichen  Gcist- 
lichcn,  t.  i.,  p.  28,  third  edition. 

t  Vitai  lampada. — These  words,  which  we  throw  into  a  note,  and 
which,  in  M.  Vinet's  manuscript,  are  in  the  text,  between  parentheses, 
are  probably  transferred  from  this  verse  of  Lucretius  : 
Et,  quasi  cursores,  vitai  lampada  tradunt. 
— De  Rerum  Natura,  lib.  ii.,  v.  78. — Ed. 


INSTITUTION    OF   THE    MINISTRY.  41 

,-P      J    "  4-V  r  '  *     f 

ministry,  according  to  Hufiell,  Christianity  would  not  last  two 
centuries. 

This  is,  perhaps,  too  positive  and  too  absolute  ;  but  it  can 
not  be  said  that  it  would,  in  general,  be  doubting  the  truth 
and  power  of  a  work  to  make  its  duration  depend  on  certain 
means.  Nothing  is  done  without  means  ;  and  when  it  is  the 
institution  itself  which  creates  its  own  means,  when  it  draws 
them  from  itself,  and  chooses  them  conformably  to  its  nature, 
we  can  not  say  that  it  must  be  precarious  because  it  employs 
means.  We  should  rather  think  it  precarious  if  it  did  not 
employ  them.  If  it  employed  in  the  ministry  its  own  best 
elements,  the  best  part  of  its  substance,  to  propagate  itself, 
would  it  not  grow  ? 

No  one  doubts  but  that  the  life  of  the  Church  supposes  and 
requires  a  perpetual  testimony,  an  uninterrupted  tradition ; 
and  it  is  necessary  that  this  testimony,  this  tradition,  should 
be  sure.  A  Church  would  be  wanting  to  itself  if  it  did  not 
make  sure  not  only  the  perpetuity,  but  the  just  perfection  of 
this  testimony,  this  tradition. — Rom.,  x.,  14,  15. 

Herder*  defends  the  institution,  but  thinks  it  may  not  be 
always  necessary.  We  shall  not  pursue  this  inquiry  ;  let  us 
keep  it  as  long  as  it  shall  be  necessary,  and  not  abandon  it 
until  it  shall  be  no  longer  needed.  We  are  convinced  that 
this  time  will  never  come. 

§  3.  Institution  of  the  Evangelical  Ministry. 

Besides  the  necessity  resulting  from  the  nature  of  things, 
is  there  not  a  necessity  of  another  kind,  a  positive  duty  ;  in 
other  words,  is  not  the  ministry  a  divine,  or  a  canonical  in- 
stitution ? 

Did  Jesus  Christ  himself,  or  the  apostles  in  his  name,  or- 
dain that  the  Church  should,  in  all  ages,  have  special  men 

*  HERDER  :  PromncialbUetter,  iii.,  tome  X.,  de»  (Euvre*  Theologiques, 
p.  334-341. 


42  INSTITUTION    OP    THE    MINISTRY. 

charged  with  the  administration  of  worship  and  the  conduct 
of  souls  ?  Strictly  speaking,  no.  Jesus  Christ  instituted  but 
little ;  he  inspired  much  more.  It  is  his  cross,  and  not  his 
institutions,  which  separates  the  Old  World  from  the  New. 
What  remained  he  left  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  was  to  come 
after  him.  He  abolished  virtually,  rather  than  formally.  He 
preferred  the  insensible  but  infallible  action  of  the  Spirit  to 
the  less  sure  and  less  delicate  action  of  the  letter.  His  reign 
is  a  spiritual  reign.  His  disciples  understood  this,  and  were 
in  no  haste  to  abolish  or  to  overthrow.  And  it  was  not  al- 
ways given  them  to  see  at  once  what  in  the  old  economy  was 
consistent  with  the  new.  God  did  not  impart  to  them  at 
once  all  they  were  to  know,  but  gave  them  a  light  which  was 
gradually  to  chase  away  the  darkness.  The  entire  develop- 
ment of  Christianity  has  been  thus  made,  and  we  have  yet 
to  hope  for  a  new  world  of  discoveries.  This  progressive 
march,  however,  relates  only  to  secondary  points  in  the  Gos- 
pel ;  for,  as  to  doctrine,  the  apostles,  from  the  beginning,  were 
of  the  same  mind,  and  they  have  told  us  every  thing.  It  is 
not  the  same  with  institutions ;  these  have  been  provided, 
little  by  little,  as  the  want  of  them  has  been  felt. 

Jesus  Christ  called  around  him  a  few  men  from  among  his 
followers,  and  intrusted  them  with  a  message,  and  with  func- 
tions resembling  his  own,  and  said  to  them  {to  them,  and  not 
to  others),  "  As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  BO  send  I  you." 
— John,  xx.,  21. 

St.  Paul  says  that  Jesus  Christ  gave  some  apostles,  and 
some  prophets,  and  some  evangelists  and  teachers.* — Eph., 
iv.,  11.  Here  Jesus  Christ  appears  as  the  guide  of  the 
Church,  of  its  first  messengers;  the  organization  and  govern- 
ment of  the  Church  are  ascrjbed  to  Him ;  and  it  was  evident, 
according  to  St.  Paul,  that  it  was  his  will  that  the  Church 

*  Bridges  remarks  how  the  form  of  these  words  shows  grandeur  in 
the  institution  (The  Christian  Ministry,  p.  6).  See  CALVIN,  comment- 
ary on  this  place,  t.  vi..  p.  129,  Berlin  edition,  1834. 


INSTITUTION    OF   THE    MINISTRY.  43 

should  have  ministers.  The  apostles,  as  they  had  been  sent, 
sent  in  their  turn ;  the  ministry  continues  of  itself,  without 
having  been  formally  instituted — once  for  all. 

But  as  Jesus  Christ  said  to  his  apostles,  "  Go  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature"  (Mark,  xvi.,  15) ;  and  since 
those  to  whom  he  directly  spoke  could  only  begin  the  execu- , 
tion  of  a  command,  for  the  entire  fulfillment  of  which  centu- 
ries were  necessary,  he  addressed  himself  also,  in  their  person, 
to  their  successors  :  He  has  thus  implicitly  instituted  the  min- 
istry, unless  it  may  be  said  that  the  continuation  of  the  work 
did  not  require  special  men,  such  as  had  been  needed  at  the 
beginning. 

This  leads  us  to  our  second  reflection,  which  is,  that,  un- 
less the  circumstances  in  which  Jesus  Christ  conferred  the 
apostolate  have  essentially  changed,  his  order  stands  for  all 
ages,  and  is  equivalent  to  an  institution.  For  not  to  renew, 
in  similar  circumstances,  that  which  he  himself  founded, 
would  be,  in  some  sort,  to  condemn  the  first  foundation,  which 
never  would  have  been  made  if  it  had  not  been  intended  to 
be  continued  forever. 

It  has  been  objected  that  ministers  should  be  interpreters 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  consequently  the  Spirit,  which  has  been 
given  to  all  the  faithful,  would  set  apart  for  each  want  the 
ministers  that  would  be  required,  and  move  them  to  speak  at 
the  given  moment.  This  is  the  opinion  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.  From  a  true  principle  they  have  drawn  a  false 
consequence.  For  a  special  ministry  does  not  bind  the  Spirit, 
does  not  prevent  the  Heavenly  wind  from  blowing  where  it 
listeth. 

We  must,  by  all  human  means,  endeavor  to  have  ministers 
through  whom  the  Spirit  speaks.  If,  notwithstanding  this, 
unworthy  men  are  found  among  them,  while  we  deplore  the 
evil,  we  must  confess  that  the  same  thing  might  happen  in 
those  churches  where  all  have  a  right  to  speak,  and  all  wait 
for  the  Spirit  to  inspire  them.  Might  they  not  deceive  them- 


44  PERMANENCE    OF    THE    INSTITUTION. 

selves  ?  and  those  who  have  the  gift  of  speech,  might  they 
not  speak  in  order  to  gain  power  ?  The  danger  would  he 
greater  than  with  us ;  for  these  preachers,  not  heing  pre- 
pared hy  special  study,  would  have  less  security  against  it. 

It  has  heen  said  that  there  can  not  exist  a  ministry,  he- 
cause  there  is  no  Church ;  that  a  Church  is  not  possible  in 
this  world.  This  is  true,  if  one  speaks  of  the  ideal  of  a  Church. 
This  ideal  has  never  been  realized,  not  even  in  the  time  of 
the  apostles ;  but  now,  as  then,  Christians  meet  to  hear  the 
word  preached  ;  to  be  consoled,  to  be  confirmed  ;  they  need 
to  pray  together,  to  give  thanks  together ;  and  for  this  a 
minister  is  necessary,  a  servant  of  God  who  puts  the  word 
within  their  reach,  and  who,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  comes  to  the  aid  of  their  weakness. 

At  least  missionaries  will  be  needed  :  For  in  our  day  we  may 
say  with  St.  Paul,  "How  shall  they  call  on  Him  in  whom 
they  have  not  believed  ?  And  how  shall  they  believe,  in  Him 
of  whom  they  have  not  heard  ?  And  how  shall  they  hear  with- 
out a  preacher  ?  And  how  shall  they  preach,  unless  they  be 
sent?" — Rom.,  x.,  14,  15. 

But  all  the  ministers  Jesus  Christ  gave  to  the  primitive 
Church  were  not  missionaries,  in  the  special  sense  we  attach 
to  the  word.  Many  were  pastors,  and  provided  as  such  for 
wants  that  exist  to-day,  and  always  will  exist :  And,  after 
all,  are  not  all  pastors  half  missionaries  ?  Are  there  not  in  the 
bosom  of  their  churches,  and  all  around  them,  souls  which 
must  be  sought  after,  as  one  seeks  after  pagans  and  idola- 
ters a  thousand  leagues  distant  ?  Does  the  work  of  conver- 
sion ever  cease  ?  Must  we  not  always  throw  the  net  far  and 
near  ?  The  circumstances,  then,  which  in  the  beginning  led 
to  the  institution  of  the  ministry,  are  they  not  the  same  to- 
day, and  do  they  not  require  the  same  measures  ?  And  would 
it  not  be  disavowing  Jesus  Christ  himself,  not  to  do  in  his 
name  to-day  what  he  himself  would  do  if  he  were  in  the 
midst  of  us  ? 


ANSWER    TO    OBJECTIONS.  45 

Let  us  also  observe,  that  whatever  may  be  said  to-day  in 
favor  of  the  abolition  of  the  ministry  might  have  been  said 
at  that  time  against  its  institution.  One  might  have  said 
then  that  every  faithful  person  is  a  minister,  which  is  true  ; 
that  no  believer  should  be  exempt  from  the  duty  of  "  show- 
ing forth  the  praises  of  Him  who  called  him  out  of  darkness 
into  his  marvelous  light"  (1  Peter,  ii.,  9),  which  is  also  true  ; 
that  the  Christian  life  is  a  system  of  preaching  ;  that  faith  be- 
gets faith,  etc.  All  these  things  are  true ;  but  with  them 
there  are  others  not  less  true,  which  make  the  ministry  as 
necessary  to-day  as  it  ever  has  been. 

Let  us  observe,  finally,  that  the  apostles  have  never  spoken 
of  the  ministry  as  an  accidental,  transitory  thing,  or  as  a  tem- 
porary institution.  In  short,  on  this  subject  we  think,  that 
to  strike  out  the  word  institution  would  scarcely  be  more  than 
taking  away  a  word  ;  since,  if  Jesus  Christ  has  not  formally, 
and  in  some  way  by  letters  patent,  instituted  the  ministry, 
we  can  not  doubt  as  to  His  will  in  respect  to  it  ?  It  is  no 
departure  from  truth — no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  min- 
istry is  a  divine  institution. 

$  4.  Does  the  Ministry  constitute  an  Order  in  the 
Church  ? 

A  discussion  has  been  raised  on  the  question,  Is  the  minis- 
try an  order  ?* 

This  may  appear  idle,  after  the  solution  of  the  former  ques- 
tion, from  which  it  can  hardly  be  distinguished.  Theolo- 
gians, however,  who  agree  as  to  the  divine  institution  of  the 
ministry,  are  divided  on  this  point.  It  is,  then,  worth  while 
to  examine  it. 

If  the  ministry,  that  is  to  say,  the  consecration  of  certain 
special  men  to  the  management  of  the  Church,  has  been  in- 
stituted, these  men,  distinguished  among  all  others,  form  nec- 
*  In  German,  Stand. 


46  IS    THE  MINISTRY    AN    ORDER? 

essarily  an  order,  at  least  in  one  sense.  If  there  is  contro- 
versy, it  is  without  doubt  on  the  greater  or  less  latitude  of 
meaning,  of  which,  the  word  order  is  susceptible  ;  for  the  dis- 
putants are  agreed  to  acknowledge  the  institution. 

It  is  certain  that  the  word  order  may  awaken  in  different 
minds  very  different  ideas.  Some  incline  to  the  notion  of  a 
Levitical  tribe,  of  a  sacerdotal  caste,  separated  into  a  relig- 
ious society,  exercising  exclusive  functions,  proceeding  less 
from  the  community  than  the  community  proceeds  from  it,  ex- 
isting by  itself,  imposed  upon  the  flocks  by  an  authentic  divine 
institution,  or  by  Providence  ;  legitimate,  in  a  word,  in  the 
sense  which  political  parties  have  given  to  that  expression. 

Others,  who,  in  a  certain  sense,  would  be  disposed  to  ac- 
cept the  ministry  as  an  order,  having  received  it  as  an  insti- 
tution, refuse  to  see  in  the  clergy  an  order,  if  that  word  nec- 
essarily imports  all  the  ideas  which  we  have  just  expressed. 
With  these  the  ministry  constitutes,  indeed,  a  particular  class 
of  persons,  a  kind  of  functionaries  of  which  Jesus  Christ  would 
have  his  Church  never  deprived  ;  but,  in  their  view,  the  sim- 
ilarity of  their  functions  no  more  raises  them  to  an  order,  than 
the  grade  of  captain  or  officer  makes  an  order  of  all  the  cap- 
tains or  all  the  officers  of  an  army,  who  are  nothing,  in  fact, 
but  soldiers  of  a  more  elevated  rank.  Ministers  are,  in  their 
view,  only  officers  of  the  Christian  army,  with  this  import- 
ant difference  that  each  may  become  an  officer  of  his  chief, 
as  soon  as  he  shall  find  soldiers  prepared  to  accept  him  as 
such,  and  to  march  under  his  direction. 

Each  of  these  opinions  has,  again,  degrees  and  shades. 
With  the  greater  part  of  the  defenders  of  the  one  and  the 
other,  there  is  less  a  reasonable  conviction  than  a  habitude 
or  tendency  :  As  to  their  origin,  they  are  less  two  systems 
than  two  different  spirits.  But  when  circumstances  have  in- 
duced lively  manifestations  of  these  two  spirits,  and  have 
brought  them  together,  it  has  been  necessary  to  explain  them ; 
and  habit  on  one  part,  and  tendency  on  another,  have  be- 


DIFFERENT    OPINIONS.  47 

come  formally  systems,  which  have  had  to  give  account  of 
their  foundations,  discovered  perhaps  too  late. 

Those  who  admit  that  the  ministry  is  an  order  look  to 
the  past  as  their  support ;  the  others  rest  on  speculation.  At 
the  Reformation  they  did  not  systematize ;  they  felt  that  they 
lived,  and  method  and  form  were  neglected.  Afterward  came 
a  season  of  repose ;  the  clergy  in  certain  places  formed  an 
order.  Now  we  have  to  choose  ;  Catholicism  urges  us  ;  we 
ought  to  be  openly  Protestants.  We  have  kept  many  Cath- 
olic rags  ;  we  should  now  decidedly  dress  ourselves  anew. 

Among  the  more  eminent  defenders  of  the  second  system, 
in  these  later  times,  we  should  distinguish  Neander. 

Neander*  notices  the  tendency,  which  discovered  itself 
early  in  the  Church,  to  make  pastors  a  caste.  He  notices 
the  resistance  of  Clement  (i.,  217)  and  of  Tertullian  (i.,  245) 
to  this  return  toward  Judaism.  These  fathers  valued  (and 
Neander  did  after  them)  the  idea  of  a  universal  priesthood, 
according  to  1  Peter,  ii.,  9,  and  Apoc.,  i.,  6.  Neander  and 
his  authorities  did  not  admit  the  institution  of  priests,  except 
in  the  sense  of  a  useful  division  of  labor. t  See  Acts,  vi.,  4, 
the  institution  of  deacons. 

Harms  replied  to  NeanderJ  that  the  language  of  St.  Peter 
is  figurative,  and  that  the  Hebrew  people  were  denominated 
priests  :  "Ye  shall  be  to  me  a  kingdom  of  priests  and  a  holy 
nation." — Exod.,  xix.,  G. 

But  this  is  passing  from  side  to  side  with  arguments,  of 
which  one  destroys  nothing,  and  the  other  constructs  nothing. 
For  the  idea  of  universal  priesthood  does  not  contradict  that 
of  special  priesthood  ;  and  Harms  has  reason  to  allege  on 

*  NEANDER  :  Dtnkwurdegkeiten,  i.,  64-69,  et  179.  Geschichte  der 
.ipostel,  i.,  162.  See  also  SCHWARZ,  Katechetik,  p.  11.  Notes  C  and 
D,  of  the  Appendix,  give  the  translation  of  these  passages. 

t  NEANDER  :  AUgemeine  Geschichte  der  christlichen  Religion  und 
Kirche,  i.,  277.  Note  E,  of  Appendix,  gives  the  translation  of  this 
passage.  See  also  RETTIG,  Die  freie  protestantische  Kirche,  p.  87. 

t  Pastoraltheologie,  ii.,  p.  11. 


48  UNIVERSAL    AND    SPECIAL    MINISTRY. 

the  subject  Exod.,  xix.,  6  ;  and,  on.  the  other  side,  a  special 
would  not  be  inconsistent  with  a  universal  priesthood. 

It  appears  to  me  useful  to  remark,  for  the  advantage  of 
both  these  truths,  that  those  who  spoke  in  the  Bible  of  a 
universal  priesthood  were  themselves  clothed  with  a  special 
priesthood,  and  maintained  that  character  in  opposition  to 
those  to  whom  they  addressed  themselves  :  In  their  idea  the 
two  priesthoods,  or  the  two  ministries,  were  not  inconsistent. 

Besides,  in  the  new  economy,  it  is  certain  that,  in  one  re- 
spect, the  universal  ministry  is  the  only  real  one  ;  not  that  it 
excludes  the  other,  but  because  in  this  new  economy  the  oth- 
er ministry,  I  mean  to  say  the  priesthood  properly  so  called, 
no  longer  exists  :  No  one  is  specially  a  priest,  and  each  is 
one  in  proportion  to  his  union  to  the  Head,  Jesus  Christ. 
There  only  remains  the  ministry  of  the  word,  which  is,  at 
the  same  time,  special  and  universal.  And  here  we  repeat 
our  observation  :  inspired  men  who  received  this  ministry  as 
universal  did  not  cease  to  exercise  it  in  a  special  manner  ; 
they  did  not  dream  of  annulling  either  the  one  or  the  other. 

They  also  acknowledged  that  the  believer  is  directly  taught 
of  God,  and  that  consequently  he  has  his  sovereign  pastor  in 
heaven  :  They  insisted  much  on  the  immediate  relation  of 
every  believer  to  Him  who  is  at  the  same  time  the  object 
and  the  author  (the  beginner  and  the  finisher)  of  his  faith. 
This  is,  in  effect,  the  essence  of  true  religion  ;  the  spirit  of 
the  true  worshipers  of  the  Father,  the  character  of  worship 
when  God  is  revealed  as  Father.  Even  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment we  find  vivid  traces  of  this  idea. — Jer.,  xxxi.,  31,  34. 
But  these  same  men  who  preached  the  immediate  interces- 
sion of  the  believer  with  God,  and  who  gave  mediatora  no 
place  or  part  with  the  Holy  Mediator,  did  not  less  exercise 
the  ministry  of  the  word,  which  has  precisely  for  its  ob- 
ject and  its  last  end  to  produce  that  immediate  intercourse. 
Are  they  inconsistent  with  themselves  ?  Not  in  the  least. 
We  must  not,  then,  oppose  either  the  universal  ministry  to 


18    THE    MINISTRY    A    CASTE?  49 

the  special  ministry,  or  the  special  ministry  to  the  universal 
ministry  ;  but  as  they  are  of  the  same  nature,  as  in  no  one  of 
their  elements  are  they  different ;  as  the  one  has  no  efficacy 
or  light  which  has  been  refused  to  the  other,  we  must  truly 
acknowledge,  with  Neander,  that  the  special  ministry  exists 
only  by  virtue  of  a  division  of  labor,  and  for  divers  reasons 
which  we  have  indicated  above.  To  inquire  for  the  reason 
of  an  institution,  the  idea  which  gave  it  birth  is  not  to  nullify 
the  institution,  nor  to  overthrow  the  authority  of  Him  who 
founded  it. 

The  truth  on  this  question  finds  its  limit  on  one  side  (that 
is  to  say,  on  the  side  which  tends  to  a  strict  distinction  of 
ministers),  in  the  words  already  cited  (1  Peter,  u.,  9  :  "Ye 
are  a  royal  priesthood,"  and  Apoc.,  i.,  6) ;  on  the  other  side 
(that  is  to  say,  on  the  side  opposed  to  the  distinction),  in  the 
words  of  St.  Paul :  "  Paul,  separated  to  the  Gospel  of  God." 
— Rom.,  i.,  1. 

There  is,  then,  an  order  only  in  the  sense  of  a  class  of  men 
indispensable  in  the  Church,  co-ordinate  and  set  over  each 
Church,  the  living  centre  of  each  Church,  "  for  the  perfecting 
of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  tninistry,  for  the  edification 
of  the  body  of  Christ." — Ephesians,  iv.,  12. 

This  order  can  be  a  caste*  only  in  the  following  cases  : 

1.  In  the  case  where  it  is  hereditary,  as  in  the  Mosaic  in- 
stitution ;  or  transmitted,  as  in  the  Romish  Church.  Now 
the  first  does  not  exist ;  and,  as  Protestants,  we  deny  the  sec- 
ond. Transmission  in  the  Romish  Church  has  sense  and  rea- 
son only  by  virtue  of  the  mystery  of  the  real  presence,  and 
infallible  interpretation  ;  take  away  these  two  dogmas,  make 
the  pastor  to  be  a  simple  administrator  of  worship,  without 
mystery,  and  a  simple  preacher  of  the  word,  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  may  explain  to  any  other  as  well  as  to  him,  and  what 

*  Caste  is  a  term  applied  to  certain  classes  of  persons,  to  distin- 
guish them  from  the  rest  of  the  nation  to  which  they  belong. — ZHc- 
tidnnaire  de  fAeadcmie: 


50  WHAT    CONSTITUTES    CASTE? 

rational,  psychological  foundation,  remains  for  succession  ? 
And  reciprocally,  if  you  admit  the  dogma  of  succession,  you 
are  constrained  to  find  for  it  a  reason,  a  ground,  in  one  or  the 
other  of  the  two  forecited  dogmas,  or  else  in  both.  The  his- 
toric, or  legal  foundation,  never  suffices  to  preserve  an  insti- 
tution which  does  not  subsist,  except  by  interior  reasons,  found- 
ed in  human  nature.  Reduce  the  transmission  of  ecclesias- 
tical powers  to  a  historic  base,  and  you  take  away  from  them, 
whatever  may  be  the  solidity  of  that  base,  all  sufficient  rea- 
son of  existence,  all  means  of  perpetuating  them.  In  our  na- 
tional Protestant  churches  our  ministers  are  consecrated  by 
ministers,  and  this  is  well ;  but  still  it  may  be,  that,  in  as- 
cending from  consecration  to  consecration,  we  may  arrive  at 
men  who  consecrated  themselves  :  The  right  is  then  acquired 
by  all  others  to  do  the  same  thing. 

2.  In  the  case  where  the  minister  is  not  a  citizen  in  the 
full  extent  of  the  term.     Now  it  may  be  that  here  and  there 
civil  institutions  may  restrain  his  quality  of  citizen  ;  but  that 
restriction  is  not  of  his  doing,  and  is  not  required  by  any  of 
the  elements  of  the  institution.     It  is  otherwise  with  respect 
to  the  Romish  priest,  who  can  not  be  a  citizen  and  retain  his 
character  as  priest.     As  to  constitutional  power,  which,  in 
certain  countries,  may  appertain  to  his  order,  it  is  a  very 
different  thing  from  civic  individual  fitness  :  It  is  the  intru- 
sion of  the  Church,  or  of  the  clergy,  into  the  department  of 
civil  aflaira. 

3.  In  the  case  where  his  functions  are  exclusive.     Now 
a  society  may  very  well  agree  to  recur,  as  a  society,  to  this 
man  or  this  order  ;  but,  apart  from  this,  the  functions  of  the 
ministry  may  be  exercised  by  simple  believers. 

The  ministry,  then,  does  not  form  a  caste.  It  does  not 
even  form  a  body,  except  accidentally.  The  accident  is  cer- 
tainly frequent,  but  still  it  remains  an  accident.  Existence 
as  a  body  is  not  essential  to  the  ministry. 

To  conclude  in  a  word  :  the  ecclesiastical  ministry  is  a  con- 


IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    dUESTION.  51 

secration,  made  under  certain  conditions,  of  particular  mem- 
bers of  a  Christian  flock  to  be  occupied  specially,  but  not  to 
the  exclusion  of  others,  in  the  administration  of  worship  and 
the  care  of  souls.  A  religious  society  may,  moreover,  direct 
that  the  solemnities  which  bring  it  together  shall  be  presided 
over  exclusively  by  those  special  men  whom  it  calls  ministers 
or  pastors. 

It  seems  easy  to  hold  a  position  between  the  two  limits 
now  indicated.  If  either  should  absorb  us,  it  would  be  at 
the  expense  of  evangelical  truth.  But  it  is  certain  that  we 
could  not  lose  one  of  these  things  without  losing  the  other 
also.  There  is  no  choice  left  to  us.  We  must  preserve  or 
lose  both  at  once. 

This  discussion  is  not  idle.  It  is  true  that  the  attack  and 
defense  pass  from  side  to  side  without  an  encounter,  each 
part  maintaining  that  which  the  .other  does  not  reject,  and 
rejecting  what  the  other  does  not  care  to  defend.  But  this 
discussion,  which  would  have  been  out  of  place  at  another 
time,  indicates  a  disposition  of  mind  which  should  not  be  un- 
observed, and,  moreover,  it  leads  us  to  determine  well  our  po- 
sition in  the  Church  and  in  society. 

The  disposition  of  mind  is  singular.  It  implies  a  contra- 
diction. We  do  every  thing  that  we  may  become  a  caste, 
and  yet  we  are  afraid  that  we  shall  be  a  caste.  It  is  not 
considered  that  it  is  in  the  nature  of  a  body  in  exile  to  make 
itself  an  empire,  and  that  it  will  not  even  recognize  equals, 
when  it  has  no  opportunity  of  comparing  itself  with  others. 
We  create,  or,  at  least,  strengthen  the  esprit  de  corps  by  this 
fear  of  the  esprit  de  corps. 

The  clergy  itself  is  undecided  between  the  remembrance 
of  its  ancient  authority  and  the  sense  of  its  actual  situation. 

Religious  interest  revived,  not  yet  in  the  masses  but  in  a 
certain  number  of  individuals,  tends  to  give  importance  to 
the  clergy ;  this  same  interest  approximates  the  laity  to  the 
functions  of  the  clergy,  and  more  or  less  effaces  the  distinction. 


52  EXCELLENCE    OF    THE    MINISTRY. 

This  state  of  things  should  teach  us  this,  at  least,  to  re- 
main or  to  enter  on  the  terms  of  the  Gospel.  These  terms  we 
have  defined. 

Thus  in  every  Church,  organized  according  to  the  word, 
and  according  to  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,  there  will  be 
ministers,  forming  or  not  forming  a  collective  body,  I  would 
say  never  a  caste  ;  entering,  in  every  thing  which  does  not 
exclusively  concern  their  official  functions,  into  the  category 
of  other  citizens  and  other  Christians,  and  not  having  any 
inalienable  qualification,  except  in  the  interest  of  the  order, 
and  within  the  limits  of  that  interest. 


§  5.  Excellence  of  the  Ministry. 

The  ministry,  necessary  to  Christianity,  partaking  of  the 
necessity  of  Christianity,  and  also  instituted  or  ordained  by 
Jesus  Christ,  can  not  but  be,  according  to  St.  Paul  (1  Tim., 
iii.,  4),  an  excellent  office. 

Let  us,  nevertheless,  study  it  in  itself,  and  indicate  the  prin- 
cipal characteristics  which  should  exalt  it  in  our  view. 

At  the  first  glance,  and  according  to  secular  views,  the  art, 
par  excellence,  is  that  of  governing  minds  (Ars  e&t  artium 
regimen  animarum] ;  and  although  others  besides  the  preach- 
er undertake  this,  and  succeed  in  it,  it  is  certain  that  when  he 
does  succeed  in  it,  it  is  in  a  manner  more  definitive  and  more 
profound,  because  of  the  nature  of  the  motives  which  he  em- 
ploys. He  awakens  and  strengthens  in  man  thoughts  which 
must  determine  and  control  his  whole  life. 

Rising  higher  in  our  point  of  view,  we  see  that  it  is  the 
preacher's  great  prerogative  or  great  mission,  to  maintain 
faith  in  invisible  things  and  in  a  spiritual  world,  in  souls, 
which  earthly  things  are  always  seeking  to  absorb  ;  to  be 
among  men,  a  spiritual  man  and  a  man  of  eternity. 

Those  who  are  devoted  to  the  social  interests  of  mankind 
regard  the  minister  as  the  chief  instrument  of  civilization,  in- 


r 

GREATNESS    OF    THE    CALLING.  53 

asmuch  as  he  is  the  chjef  agent  in  advancing  general  moral- 
ity— asserting  and  diffusing  as  much  as  lies  in  his  power  the 
maxims  of  virtue.  Magistrate  of  consciences,  counselor  of 
benevolence  and  of  peace,  he  represents  the  element  of  the 
highest  social  life.  Religious  instructor  of  the  people,  he 
can  not  be  a  stranger  to  the  care  of  their  intellectual  culture  ; 
he  is  its  promoter ;  he  is  every  where  at  the  head  of  popular 
teaching,  as  well  as  of  the  Church  ;  and  in  that  respect,  also, 
the  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  a  minister  of  civilization.*  The 
prophet  and  the  priest  of  the  middle  ages,  as  are  now  the 
missionaries  among  savage  tribes,  were  ostensibly  and  openly 
the  chiefs  of  society.  All  society  was  more  or  less  theocrat- 
ic at  its  birth.  That  was  a  time  when  second  causes  were 
little  observed,  and  when,  in  all  things,  there  was  a  direct 
ascent  to  the  first  cause.  Afterward,  men  did  not  take  the 
trouble  of  ascending  so  high.  The  same,  also,  as  to  the  con- 
duct of  society.  It  was  only  indirectly,  and  by  its  influence, 
greater  or  less,  that  religion  controlled  civil  order.  Since 
then  the  minister  has  been  placed  in  an  analogous  position. 
Society  has  not  recognized  him  as  its  head.  But  it  could  not 
but  be  that  the  gravest  and  most  solemn  affairs  of  individual 
life  and  of  public  life,  should  be  assigned  to  religion,  and  of 
course  to  him  ;  that  a  multitude  of  great  interests  should,  of 
necessity,  be  confided  to  him ;  that  the  last  depth  of  the  hu- 
man soul  should  be  surrendered  to  him  by  religious  preoccu- 
pation, the  strongest  of  all.  His  hour  always  returns,  and 
religion  with  him  penetrates  into  the  midst  of  interests  which 
are  surrendered  to  him.  Where  religious  institutions  are  fee- 

*  All  this  applies  especially  to  the  Christian  ministry,  for,  Christi- 
anity apart,  the  minister  is  often,  and  particularly  in  these  times,  the 
representative  of  the  anti-social  element  and  of  anarchy,  the  minis- 
ter of  darkness.  But  even  in  false  religions,  at  their  commencement, 
this  was  not  so.  Whatever  may  be  the  delusions  which  are  mingled 
with  religious  traditions,  truth  has  always  its  place,  and  civilization 
has  had  the  advantage  of  it.  The  necessity  for  Religion  is  a  noble  ne- 
cessity :  she  has  always  been  the  cradle  of  society. 


54  LIFE    CONSECRATED. 

ble,  where  the  Church  is  no  longer  a  reality,  the  pastor  only 
remains  ;  it  is  to  him  that  we  look.  It  is  with  the  pastor  as 
with  the  Sabbath.  Happy  he  to  whom  all  days  are  Sab- 
baths ;  happy  the  time  when  the  importance  of  the  ministry 
shall  diminish  because  all  Christians  will  be  ministers. 

His  every-day  life,  instead  of  being  trivial,  like  that  of  the 
greater  part  of  men,  is  serious.  His  functions  pertain  to  the 
foundations  and  roots  of  human  life.  He  is  brought  into  con- 
tact, by  his  ministry,  with  all  that  life  has,  which  is  serious 
and  most  affecting.  Its  great  pauses  or  halts,  its  great  con- 
cerns, appertain  to  him — birth,  marriage,  death. 

His  life  is  a  life  of  consecration,  without  which  it  has  no 
meaning.  His  career  is  a  perpetual  sacrifice,  which  includes 
all  that  belongs  to  him.  His  family  is  consecrated ;  it  belongs 
to  the  ministry,  and  partakes  of  its  privations  :  Even  as  Je- 
sus came  into  the  world  not  to  be  served,  but  to  serve,  so  of 
the  ministry ;  and  this  is  its  glory  :  "  To  serve  God  is  to 
reign."  He  seeks  the  glory  of  God  directly ;  he  seeks  it  again 
in  serving  men  ;  for  to  serve  men  from  love  to  God,  is  to 
serve  God.  A  minister  is  a  man  of  benevolence  and  com- 
passion. And  this  is  every  one's  impression  ;  every  one,  even 
the  natural  man,  demands  charity  of  the  minister.  No  one 
will  observe  cruelty,  avarice,  coldness,  the  want  of  kindness 
iu  him,  without  reproaching  him  with  it.  Benevolence  and 
kindness  belong  essentially  to  Christianity.  In  nations  not 
Christian,  even  among  the  Jews,  the  priest  has  not  at  all 
this  character,  and  sometimes  he  is  considered  as  a  terrible 
and  wicked  being.  But  now  the  most  unbelieving  person 
thinks  that  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  kindness.  A  min- 
ister is  a  man  to  whom  God  hath  said,  "  Comfort  ye,  com- 
fort ye  my  people."  He  is  among  men  the  representative  of 
the  idea  of  mercy,  and  he  represents  it  by  transferring  it  into 
his  own  proper  life.  To  impart  succor,  that  is  his  ministry, 
that  is  his  life. 

In  short,  the  ministry,  at  least  in  the  Protestant  Church 


FAITH  8    POINT    OF    VIEW.  55 

and  among  Presbyterians,*  can  not  at  its  outset  present  an 
object  of  ambition,  though  possibly  it  may  end  in  this.  One 
pastor  can  be  distinguished  from  another  only  by  a  more  com- 
modious post,  more  agreeable  circumstances.  It  is  a  noble 
thing  to  see  his  ambition  definitely  arrested,  his  desires  imper- 
atively restricted.  Man  is  but  too  much  harassed  by  his  de- 
sires. He  is  as  a  sick  person  agitated  by  fever,  who  knows 
not  on  which  side  to  turn.  Nothing  can  tranquillize  him  but 
that  which  shuts  the  door  against  his  desires.  A  minister  is 
no  more  confined  to  his  ministry  than  another  man  to  his  pro- 
fession, and  he  may  satisfy  the  demand  of  his  nature  for  de- 
velopment, which  is  one  of  the  privileges  and  characteristics 
of  humanity.  But  what  distinguishes  him  is,  that,  once  a 
minister,  he  is  all  that  he  can  be  externally ;  his  place  is 
taken,  and  he  must  never  forsake  it. 

Let  us  now  take  a  higher  point  of  view,  that  of  Christian 
faith.  The  dignity  and  excellence  of  the  ministry  proceed, 

1.  From  the  excellence  of  the  doctrine  which  it  teaches. 
This  is  a  "wisdom  among  them  that  are  perfect"  (1  Cor., 
ii.,  6) ;  that  is  to  say,  a  wisdom  which  renders  men  as  per- 
fect as  they  can  be  ;  not  giving  an  appearance  or  a  part  of 
the  truth,  but  the  truth  itself  and  the  whole  truth.     Noth- 
ing is  greater  than  this  mission.     He  who  on  any  subject 
has  infallibly  the  truth,  is  already  a  great  personage.     Jesus 
Christ,  in  the  presence  of  Pilate,  associates  the  royalty  of 
truth  with  the  testimony  he  rendered  to  it.     His  business,  in 
fact,  is  with  truth,  with  supreme  truth,  with  that  which  ex- 
plains and  governs  life,  with  truth  as  pertaining  to  the  rela- 
tions of  man  with  God.     What  more  exalted  work  than  that 
of  preaching  it !     And  this  is  the  pastor's  mission. 

2.  From  the  fact  that  its  doctrine  is  a  Divine  revelation. 

*  The  context  seems  to  require  this  designation  to  be  understood 
here  in  its  comprehensive  sense,  or  as  embracing  all  denominations 
that  hold  the  parity  of  the  ministry. — TV. 


56  FAITH'S  POINT  OF  VIEW. 

Oracles  have  been  confided  to  it.  "  These  are  things  which 
eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man,  and  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them 
that  love  him." — 1  Cor.,  ii.,  9.  The  minister  is  then  the 
direct  messenger  of  God  himself.  "  He  that  receive th  you 
receiveth  me,  and  he  that  receiveth  me  receiveth  him  that 
sent  me." — Matt.,  x.,  40. 

3.  From  the  fact  that  "the  minister  is  a  laborer  with 
God"  (1  Cor.,  iii.,  15),  who  makes  himself  one  with  him  ; 
becomes  surety  for  him,  promises  to  work  for  him  and  by  him. 

4.  From  the  fact  that  he  announces  and  offers  salvation. 
If  the  ministry  was  one  of  condemnation,  if  the  pastor  preach- 
ed on  God's  behalf  the  law  only,  though  he  would  fulfill  his 
work  with  anguish  and  terror,  it  would  nevertheless  be  an 
excellent  one.     But  as  God  has  made  his  glory  to  consist  in 
pardoning,  so  he  has  put  glory  on  the  ministry  of  pardon. 
Hence  St.  Paul,  speaking  not  only  of  the  two  economies,  but 
the  two  ministries,  says,  "  God  hath  made  us  able  ministers 
of  the  New  Testament ;  not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the  Spirit ; 
for  the  letter  killeth,  but  the  Spirit  giveth  life.     But  if  the 
ministration  of  death,  written  and  engraven  in  stones,  was 
glorious,  so  that  the  children  of  Israel -could  not  steadfastly 
behold  the  face  of  Moses  for  the  glory  of  his  countenance, 
which  glory  was  to  be  .done  away,  how  shall  not  the  minis- 
tration of  the  Spirit  be  rather  glorious  ?     For  if  the  minis- 
tration of  condemnation  be  glory,  much  more  doth  the  min- 
istration of  righteousness  exceed  in  glory.     For  even  that 
which  was  made  glorious  had  no  glory  in  this  respect,  by 
reason  of  the  glory  that  excelleth." — 2  Cor.,  iii.,  6-10.     It 
is,  moreover,  very  manifest,  that  as  the  glory  of  the  mercy 
of  God  consists  of  two  inseparable  elements,  mercy  itself  and 
the  fruits  of  righteousness,  the  glory  of  the  Christian  minis- 
try is  also  composed  of  these  two  elements.     This  is  what 
Isaiah  had  in  view  in  these  words  :  "  How  beautiful  upon 
the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  good  tidings, 


SUMMARY  ESTIMATE.  57 

that  publisheth  peace  ;  that  bringeth  good  tidings  of  good, 
that  publisheth  salvation,  that  saith  unto  Zion,  Thy  God 
reigneth  !" — Is.,  lii.,  7. 

These  two  elements  are  embraced  in  the  power  to  loose 
and  to  bind  conferred  on  the  apostles,  and  after  them  on  all 
Christian  ministers. — Matth.,  xviii.,  18.  The  minister  can 
not  bind  without  loosing,  nor  loose  without  binding.  He 
binds,  when  he  binds  the  conscience,  by  adamantine  chains 
and  mystic  ties,  to  a  perfect  law  ;  he  looses  in  detaching  us 
from  the  law  of  commands,  in  proclaiming  abolition  of  servi- 
tude, and  amnesty  from  God.  These  two  things  are  two 
poles  which  always  correspond  to  each  other. 

It  is  true  that  the  minister  is  a  savor  of  death  to  him  to 
whom  he  is  not  a  savor  of  life  ;  "  the  chief  stone  of  the  cor- 
ner is  also  a  stone  of  stumbling  and  a  rock  of  offense"  (1 
Peter,  ii.,  7) ;  and  the  condemnation  of  him  who  hears  with- 
out believing  is  so  much  the  greater  ;  but  this  necessary  con- 
sequence of  the  nature  of  the  ministry  which  he  exercises  de- 
tracts nothing  from  its  excellence. 

To  say  all  in  a  word,  let  us  transfer  to  the  ministry  all 
the  excellence  of  Christianity ;  let  us  impute  to  it  all  the  ben- 
efits of  Christianity,  since  it  produces  and  perpetuates  them  ; 
or,  if  we  choose,  let  us  measure  its  excellence  by  that  of 
Christianity  ;  we  shall  have  said  enough.* 


§  6.  The  Difficulties  and  Advantages  of  the  Evangelical 
Ministry. 

After  having  established  the  excellence  of  the  ministry,  it 
may  seem  idle  to  adjust  the  balance  of  the  advantages  and 
disadvantages  which  it  may  offer  as  a  profession,  or  as  a  state, 
to  those  who  may  consecrate  themselves  to  it.  But,  although 

*  See  ERASMUS,  on  the  dignity  of  the  ministry.  This  passage  has 
been 'translated  by  ROQUES,  in  the  Pasteur  Evangelique,  page  190. 
Appendix,  note  F. 

C  2 


58  DIFFICULTIES    OF    THE    MINISTRY. 

this  excellence  removes,  as  to  him  who  recognizes  and  feels 
it,  the  entire  question,  and  although,  as  to  him  who  does  not 
perceive  or  recognize  it,  the  question  of  the  advantages  or 
inconveniences  of  a  state  which  he  should  not  embrace,  has 
not  even  the  interest  of  curiosity,  I  think  I  ought  not  to  place 
myself  in  a  point  of  view  so  absolute,  and  ought  to  reason  as  if 
the  second  question  had  an  interest  independently  of  the  first. 

Let  us  begin  with  the  difficulties,  the  troubles,  and  the 
dangers.  It  is  a  very  different  thing  whether  we  contem- 
plate the  ministry  at  a  distance  or  near  at  hand,  and  it  is 
important  to  bring  it  close  to  us.  At  a  distance,  though  we 
may  have  a  general  view  of  it,  it  is  impossible  to  have  a  true 
knowledge  of  its  duties.  "  For  which  of  you,  intending  to  build 
a  tower,  sitteth  not  down  first  and  counteth  the  cost,  whether 
he  have  sufficient  to  finish  it." — Luke,  xiv.,  28-30.  With- 
out doubt,  it  is  necessary  to  be  a  Christian,  cost  what  it  may, 
and  of  that  necessity  I  conclude  that  the  expense  is  too  great 
for  no  one  ;  but  the  quality  of  the  pastor  is  not  identical  with 
that  of  a  Christian  ;  it  adds  itself  to  it,  it  makes  an  increase, 
and  it  is  this  increase  which  must  be  supported.  We  should 
examine  whether  the  cost  is  too  great  for  us.  "We  shall  thus 
avoid  painful  and  discouraging  surprises. 

There  are  two  ways  of  conducting  this  examination.  The 
first  is  to  examine  all  the  extreme  positions,  the  extraordinary 
situations,  the  most  perilous  cases.  If  there  is  any  thing  trag- 
ic in  the  life  of  a  Christian,  there  is  much  more  reason  to 
expect  it  in  that  of  the  pastor,  who  is  the  Christian  by  emi- 
nence. The  second  way  is  to  examine  the  ordinary  cases. 
The  difference  does  not  lie  in  the  nature  of  these  cases,  but 
in  their  frequency. 

The  extraordinary  cases  are  so  called  because,  by  the  good- 
ness of  God,  they  are  rare  ;  but  it  can  not  be  superfluous  to 
speak  of  them.  There  are  times  when  "  those  who  build  a 
wall  work  with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  hold  a  sword." 
— Nehemiah,  iv.,  17.  Perhaps  the  present  is  such  a  time.  It 


DIFFICULTIES    OF    THE    MINISTRY.  59 

is  not  that  which  stands  forth  to  the  eyes  that  makes  times 
ordinary  or  extraordinary  ;  in  reality,  the  times  are  more  or 
less  what  we  make  them.  We  may  make  all  times  sublime, 
even  as  we  may  render  the  most  extraordinary  ones  common. 
The  ministry  is  always  extraordinary.  There  is  a  heroic 
way  of  conceiving  of  it,  and  that  alone  is  the  true  way.  The 
minister,  by  office,  is  a  devoted  man  ;  and  to  avoid  mistake, 
we  must  elevate  the  office  to  its  greatest  height,  and  see  it 
in  its  most  difficult  positions.  We  are  always  prone  to  take 
low  views,  and  how  fatal  the  consequences  of  seeking  one's 
ideal  at  mid  height,  instead  of  at  the  summit !  If  we  would 
not,  then,  have  inferior  views,  we  must  take  the  most'  uncom- 
mon cases,  and  ask  ourselves  whether  we  are  ready  to  accept 
the  ministry  of  missionaries  in  savage  countries,  the  ministry 
of  the  martyrs.  It  is  necessary,  at  the  outset,  to  suppose  al- 
most impossibilities,  if  we  would  have  the  idea  of  the  ministry. 
In  any  position  in  which  it  is  exercised,  the  ministry  is  always 
what  it  is  ;  nothing  will  change  it — neither  easy  nor  difficult 
times.  For  a  moment  God  may  leave  us  in  an  easy  position  ; 
but  the  ministry  implies  the  most  dangerous  situations ;  it  is 
always  a  complete  sacrifice  of  body  and  soul  to  the  service  of 
the  Church.  It  is  necessary,  then,  to  place  before  us  the 
greatest  difficulties,  not  only  that  we  may  have  an  extraor- 
dinary spirit  in  ordinary  times,  but  because  that  which  ap- 
pears impossible  to  us  is  not  so. 

The  history  of  the  Church  is  composed  of  a  succession  of  trou- 
bles and  of  peace  ;  and  these  periods  are  unforeseen .  The  deep- 
est perturbations  are  not  always  announced  by  sure,  and  espe- 
cially by  distant  presages.  The  sky  is  serene  in  the  evening  ; 
the  next  day  a  storm  bursts  forth,  and  the  stormy  weather  can 
not  be  anticipated.  It  is  still  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  Noah : 
"  Until  the  day  when  he  entered  into  the  ark,  they  married 
and  were  given  in  marriage,  and  knew  not  till  the  flood  came 
and  took  them  all  away." — Matt.,  xxiv.,  38,  39  ;  Luke,  xvii., 
27.  Our  age  depends  very  much  on  institutions  and  on  their 


60  DIFFICULTIES    OF    THE    MINISTRY 

force  ;  and,  without  doubt,  they  are  of  vast  power ;  but  mean- 
while evils  are  of  rapid  growth.*  In  the  midst  of  civiliza- 
tion, human  nature  remains  always  in  a  savage  state  ;  it  is 
only  tamed  by  society.  There  are  passions  which  only  sleep 
in  the  heart  of  man ;  and  in  spite  of  the  security  procured  by 
social  institutions,  we  are  never  secure  against  the  hatred  of 
the  Gospel,  which  is  always  living  in  the  heart  of  man,  and 
which  shows  itself  all  the  stronger  as  Christianity  advances. 
We  must,  then,  regard  as  probable,  revolutions  and  persecu- 
tions, even  as  we  do  natural  calamities.  Storms  will  beat, 
especially  upon  Christianity  ;  it  will  draw  to.  itself  more  of 
hatred  and  more  of  love  ;  its  normal  condition  is  neither  of 
absolute  affliction  nor  absolute  peace.  It  is  not  essentially 
dependent  on  peace  ;  God  gives  it  peace  to  temper  it  anew. 
But  a  long  calm  might  be  fatal  to  it ;  it  must  have  trouble 
and  tempest. 

Every  one,  then,  before  he  enters  into  the  ministry,  ought 
to  represent  vividly  to  himself  these  critical  periods,  and  to 
ask  himself,  What  shall  I  do  ?  It  will  perhaps  be  neces- 
sary that,  in  a  pestilence  or  time  of  war,  I  should  give  my 
life  for  my  flock,  as  Jesus  Christ  laid  down  his  life  for  us. 
Shall  I  be  able  to  do  it  ?  In  our  time  there  is  no  persecu- 
tion, except  that  we  are  sometimes  ridiculed.  This  time 
may  change  ;  we  may  be  persecuted,  that  is  to  say,  menaced 
in  our  goods,  in  our  families,  in  our  persons.  Such  a  situa- 
tion is  as  normal  as  any  other.  It  is  not  more  natural  or 
more  regular  to  go  tranquilly  to  church,  and  to  worship  in 
peace,  than  to  go  to  the  stake,  to  be  persecuted  in  our  wives 
and  children,  to  encounter  the  wrath  of  the  great  of  the 
earth,  and  to  perish  under  their  strokes ;  to  be  exiled,  or  to 
exercise  the  ministry  in  extreme  poverty  :  we  may  even  say 
that  peace  is  the  exception.  There  are,  moreover,  other  crises 
besides  external  ones.  There  are  times  as  difficult  as  those 

*  In  the  French,  Us  angles  repoussent  vite.  This  figure  can  not 
well  be  retained  in  the  translation. — TV. 


IN    EXTRAORDINARY    CASES.  61 

of  persecution  ;  such  are  times  of  heresy  and  error,  when  the 
greater  part  of  the  clergy  do  not  preach  the  Gospel.  Then 
we  must  contend  for  the  truth,  and  not  fear  sacrifices.  Even 
now  we  see  error  and  heresy  raising  their  head  ;  we  have  to 
combat  those  who  would  weaken  the  Gospel ;  we  ought,  of 
course,  to  expect  calumnies  and  the  hatred  of  the  multitude. 

In  our  country  the  ministry  may  be  exercised  now  in  a 
position  substantially  independent ;  but  is  it  certain  that  this 
will  last,  and  that  we  shall  not  one  day  be  called  to  exercise 
it  in  poverty  ?  The  time  of  suffraganship*  is  already  some- 
what severe  ;  but,  though  evil  in  one  sense,  it  has  neverthe- 
less its  blessing ;  the  calling  is  purified  by  these  trials. 

We  must  not  fear  to  bring  before  us  the  gloomy  view  of 
the  ministry.  Let  us  say  to  ourselves  that  in  this  career  he- 
roism is  necessary.  All  pastors  ought  to  be  heroes,  for  Chris- 
tianity even  in  the  people  is  heroism  ;  a  Christian  is  in  spirit 
a  hero,  a  hero  potentially.  The  right  of  Protestant  minis- 
ters to  have  a  family  does  not  change  their  position ;  it  only 
renders  their  self-consecration  more  difficult.  The  priest  is 
by  himself.  The  Protestant  minister  unquestionably  is  not 
exempted  from  any  sacrifice.  He  must,  if  necessary,  surren- 
der his  life  ;  and  all  his  sacrifices  must  be  the  more  severe 
that  his  family  must  partake  of  them.  To  devote  himself  is 
his  business.  Why  should  this  devotion  be  more  painful  to 
him  than  to  the  physician,  for  example,  about  whom  no  one 
asks  if  he  be  married  ? 

We  will  now  consider  the  evangelical  ministry  in  ordinary 
times,  no  longer  in  those  of  conflict  and  persecution.  With- 
out excluding  any  situation,  our  observations  will  apply  to 
the  greater  number  of  cases  ;  to  that  which  is  the  most  ordi- 
nary, the  situation  of  a  country  pastor. 

The  ministry,  according  to  Gregory  JSTazianzen,  "  is  a  tem- 
pest of  the  spirit."  Chrysostom  says,  that  "  a  bishop  is  more 
Fr.,  suffragance.  See  Part  IV.,  chapter  iii. 


.-.>••     . 

( 
•  ».-**.  .  « .  <.•'- 


62  DIFFICULTIES    OF    THE    MINISTRY 

agitated  with  cares  arid  storms,  than  the  sea  with  winds  and 
tempests."* 

1 .  The  difficulty  of  governing  by  purely  moral  means  a 
multitude  of  very  different  minds  and  dispositions.  There 
are  combined  in  this  multitude  many  elements  which  do  not 
agree  among  themselves.  It  is  his  work  to  govern  them,  and 
to  secure  not  only  an  external,  but  an  internal  obedience.  He 
must  subjugate  not  only  acts,  but  thoughts,  and  reduce  them 
to  unity,  and  all  this  by  persuasion  ;  "  for  the  weapons  of  our 
warfare  are  not  carnal." — 2  Cor.,  x.,  4.  Political  government 
is,  in  one  sense,  more  easy  ;  there  are  material  means,  there 
is  opinion,  for  government  is  more  or  less  the  expression  of 
society.  It  can  do  no  more  than  society  in  its  best  elements 
decides,  it  follows  society.  The  pastor  has  to  conduct  men 
where  they  would  not  go  ;  he  has  to  induce  them  to  receive 
unlooked-for  ideas  which  man  is  not  disposed  to  receive,  and 
which  he  regards  as  foolishness.  We  hence  see  the  immense 
difficulty  of  pastoral  government.  The  Gospel  unquestiona- 
bly contains  the  elements  of  humanity,  of  true  humanity.  It 
corresponds  to  the  interior  man,  the  conscience,  which  it 
reaches  by  traversing  the  outward  man,  which  intercepts  the 
light.  The  inward  man,  in  his  darkness,  stretches  out  a 
hand  toward  the  Gospel;  there  is  in  him  a  secret  intelligence. 
But  what  obstacles  are  to  be  surmounted  !  how  difficult  is  it 
to  tie  the  two  threads  ! 

St.  Gregory,  in  developing  the  idea  of  the  diversity  of  sen- 
timents and  characters,  remarks,  that  the  truth  is  one,  but 
that  it  is  now  meat,  now  milk,  according  to  different  individ- 
uals. Now  we  must  give  to  each  the  nourishment  which 
agrees  with  him.f  Certain  truths  repel  some,  attract  others, 

*  De  Sacerdotio. 

t  "  The  art  of  arts,  the  science  of  sciences,  appears  to  me  to  be 
that  of  directing  men,  the  most  varied  and  the  most  changeable  of 
beings." — GREGORY  NAZIANZEN,  Apology.  In  the  same  book,  man  is 
represented  (tvos  faJou  awBtrav  KCU  avofj.olov).  See  the  passage  on  di£ 


IN    ORDINARY    TIMES.  63 

smother  some,  and  save  others  ;  we  must  give  the  same  truth 
under  different  forms  to  different  individuals.  Pastoral  gov- 
ernment is  that  of  individualities  ;  the  civil  law  does  not  em- 
barrass itself  with  differences  of  character. 

Thus  the  first  characteristic  of  ministerial  excellence  is  also 
its  first  difficulty. 

2.  Much  Labor. — The  poor,  the  sick,  schools,  good  offices 
of  charity,  pacific  interventions,  official  correspondence,  ser- 
mons, catechisings.  The  multitude  and  the  weight  of  these 
offices  does  not  authorize  the  neglect  of  the  sermon,  which  is 
the  only  means  of  reaching  certain  individuals,  and  the  cate- 
chism, which  in  some  degree  gives  us  the  guidance  of  each 
generation.  But  this  enumeration  does  not  express  all,  for 
where  the  ministry  is  not  perfectly  fulfilled,  it  must  gain  in 
depth  what  it  loses  in  breadth.  The  smallest  parish  should 
become,  by  the  zeal  of  him  who  cultivates  it,  as  onerous  as 
the  largest ;  this  work  has  no  limit,  no  spot  where  the  mate- 
rial fails.*  And  he  must  seek  for  remoter  occasions  when 
nearer  ones  are  wanting.  He  is  not  a  true  follower  of  tho 
first  of  ministers  who  is  not  eaten  up  by  the  zeal  of  God's 
house.  To  give  an  idea  of  the  extent  of  pastoral  labor,  let 
us  say,  that  all  the  extension  which,  in  another  profession,  the 
highest  enthusiasm,  or  the  most  boundless  ambition  might 
suggest  to  the  man  who  exercises  it,  is  but  the  exact  meas- 

ferent  wants,  according  to  different  degrees  of  intelligence  and  cul- 
ture ;  "  Some  need  to  be  nourished  with  milk,  with  the  most  simple 
and  elementary  lessons;  but  others  with  that  wisdom  which  is  en- 
tertained only  among  the  perfect,  a  nourishment  more  strong  and  sol- 
id. If  we  should  give  to  these  latter  milk  to  drink  and  pulse  to  eat, 
food  for  the  feeble,  they  would  be  dissatisfied,  and  certainly  with  rea- 
son, not  being  strengthened  according  to  Christ,"  &c. 

*  A  single  soul  is  enough  to  occupy  a  priest,  for  in  the  ways  and 
works  of  salvation  each  soul  and  each  man  is  as  a  great  world,  though 
very  small  as  to  his  natural  qualities.  Thus  a  priest  can  do  the  more 
for  a  soul  the  fewer  he  has  to  govern.  —  SAINT  CYRAN,  Penates  rur 
la  Sacerdoce. 


64  DIFFICULTIES    OF    THE    MIN1STRV 

ure  of  that  which  is  contained  in  the  simplest  idea  of  the  pas- 
toral office. 

3.  Uniform  Labor. — There  are  labors  more  uniform,  but 
the  kind  of  work  compensates  for  its  uniformity.     The  evil 
effects  of  uniformity  are  especially  perceived  in  delicate  mat- 
ters, and  matters  of  feeling  ;*  they  are  much  less  serious  in 
other  professions  where  there  is  less  to  lose,  a  less  delicate  point 
to  be  blunted.     Functions  which  rest  upon  feeling  at  length 
become  insupportable,  if  the  Spirit  of  God  does  not  incessantly 
revive  it.     If  uniformity  is  any  where  to  be  feared,  it  is  in 
the  exercise  of  the  ministry.      How  can  one  but  fear  when  a 
solemn  duty  presents  itself,  and  when  all  is  frozen  within ; 
when  around  him  all  is  great,  and  within  his  soul  all  is  lit- 
tle !     Before  a  scene  of  death,  for  example,  habit  may  leave 
your  heart  cold.     Here  is  great  danger,  and  if  there  were  no 
remedy,  it  would  be  necessary  to  renounce  the  ministry.    But 
there  is  one. 

This  uniform  work  is  without  the  prospects  and  chances  of 
other  professions  ;  we  can  not  ascend  in  the  social  hierarchy. 
We  must  say  to  ourselves,  I  must  all  my  life  be  doing  the 
same  thing,  without  any  change — without  any  extension  of 
my  worldly  horizon. 

4.  Work  ill  appreciated. — It  is  so  by  the  greater  part  of 
people,  at  least  in  respect  of  its  intensity  and  its  weight. 
Country  people,  in  particular,  regard  as  an  idler  him  who 
does  not  work  with  his  hands ;  they  do  not  understand  how 
the  work  of  the  mind  can  be  work.     Still,  the  work  of  the 
understanding  finds  those  who  appreciate  it ;  but  the  work  of 
the  heart,  prayer,  spiritual  care  for  one's  flock,  who  sees  la- 
bor in  that  ?     The  pastor  must  consent  to  be  but  little  under- 
stood. 

5.  Many  sorrowful  and  sad  functions  ;  for  the  principle 
occasion  of  religion  and  the  ministry  is  suffering.     What  sad 

*  Corruptio  optimi  pessima.  There  are  few  examples  such  as  that 
of  the  priest,  cited  by  Marmontel. 


IN    ORDINARY    TIMES.  65 

discoveries  in  this  circumnavigation  of  human  misery  !  The 
Gospel  is  a  moral  pharmacopoeia.  There  is  a  Gospel,  because 
there  are  evils  to  be  cured.  The  minister  goes  to  those  who 
are  spiritually  sick,  but  also  to  those  who  are  sick  in  body, 
or  suffering  from  affliction  of  any  kind.  Sickness  or  sorrow 
is  often  the  only  porter  that  can  open  a  house  to  him.  What 
a  sorrowful  entrance  !  One  more  readily  participates  in  the 
miseries  of  the  body,  in  the  dissolution  seen  every  day  by  the 
physician,  than  in  the  miseries  of  the  soul.  The  view  of 
moral  evil,  and  especially  its  analysis,  withers  and  corrupts, 
if  one  has  received  the  fearful  gift  of  knowing  man  without 
knowing  God.  The  true  minister  certainly  knows  God,  but 
the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked  one  sometimes  find  a  defect  in 
his  armor.  One  may,  in  this  way,  become  a  misanthrope, 
and  see  the  fire  of  charity  quenched  in  himself. 

In  short,  the  minister  has  pains  of  heart,  as  little  understood 
by  the  greater  part  of  men  as  the  pastor's  work  is  little  ap- 
preciated. Thus,  when  he  finds  a  hard  but  hypocritical  heart, 
which  has  eluded  all  the  efforts  of  his  charity  ;  that  a  soul 
has  not  been  saved,  on  account  of  circumstances  which,  per- 
haps, he  might  have  foreseen,  no  one  can  understand  what 
he  suffers  ;  and  yet  to  be  understood  is  the  greatest  compen- 
sation of  our  sorrows. 

6.  The  sacrifice  of  many  even  innocent  Tastes. — He  must 
often  renounce  things  innocent  in  themselves,  but  which  would 
scandalize  the  weak.    The  measure  of  this  interdiction  varies, 
but  still  it  exists. 

7.  Talents  lost,  rusting  in  Obscurity. — It  can  not  be  that 
every  man  of  talent  should  be  placed  in  a  situation  in  which 
he  will  be  appreciated.     This  business  is  not  an  indulgence 
of  self-love,  but  an  exercise  of  activity.     It  is  a  sacrifice,  but 
he  must  make  it.     And,  at  any  rate,  the  world  is  full  of 
hidden  talents.     This  is  the  divine  arrangement ;  we  are 
not  responsible  for  it,  and  must  accept  it  without  murmur- 
ing. 


66  DIFFICULTIES    OF    THE    MINISTRY 

8.  Painful  isolation  to  him  who  has  known  the  charms 
of  Social  Life,  and  the  intercourse  of  kindred  Minds. 

9.  A  species  of  Defiance  and  of  Fear  which  the  Pastor  in- 
spires.— For  many  people  he  is  the  representative  of  the  sor- 
rowful side  of  human  existence.     The  minister  seems  to  wear 
the  mourning  of  life.     His  own  life  is  grave,  and  gravity  al- 
ways borders  on  sadness.     This  exiles  him  into  a  kind  of  sol- 
itude, which  still  more  increases  that  which  he  is  obliged  to 
make  for  himBelf  on  account  of  the  nature  of  his  position. 

10.  The  double  Danger  of  pleasing  and  of  displeasing 
the  World. — If  we  please  it,  we  cling  to  this  success,  and 
wish  to  make  sure  of  it  for  the  future  :  it  is  hard  to  see  one's 
self  deserted  after  having  been  caressed  :  Apart  from  all  self- 
love,  it  is  painful  to  give  up  the  good-will  of  one's  equals, 
and  not  to  live  at  peace  with  all  men.     If  we  displease  it,  it 
saddens  or  irritates  us,  and  we  do  every  thing  to  displease  it 
still  further.*     We  may  abuse  the  idea  that  truth  offends ; 
we  may  wish  to  add  to  this  unpopularity  of  the  truth,  before 
it  has  subjugated  the  heart.     The  minister  should  conciliate 
the  affection  of  the  members  of  his  flock  ;  and  if  he  is  unpop- 
ular, he  should  examine  his  conduct,  to  see  if  the  unpopular- 
ity does  not  proceed  from  himself.     However  that  may  be, 
the  two  dangers  exist ;  we  coast  along  two  abysses. 

1 1 .  Self-love  is  very  active  in  a  Profession  ivhich  exposes 
us  to  Observation,  and  which  is  Intellectual,  and  conversant 
with  Art  and  Literature. — The  minister  may  assemble  the 
people  to  hear  him  on  any  subject  he  chooses.     It  would  not 
be  surprising  if  for  this  reason  many  had  embraced  the  pio- 
fession.     The  flock  then  becomes  as  the  public,  the  auditory 
a  tribunal.     The  position  of  the  minister  is.  false  ;  his  noble 
independence  and  his  authority  are  compromised  ;  he  im- 
poses a  yoke  upon  himself.     He  no  longer  preaches  God,  he 
preaches  himself;  and  by  a  sacrilege,  of  which  it  is  difficult 

*  See  JOHN  NEWTON,  Omicron,  vol.  i.,  p.  142,  146,  Letter  xiii.,  On 
the  Dangers  to  which  the  Minister  of  the  Gospel  is  exposed. 


IN    ORDINARY    TIMES.  67 

to  measure  the  extent,  the  pulpit  becomes  a  theatre,  a  stage 
for  his  vanity.  This  word  seems  hard  ;  and  yet,  in  examin- 
ing ourselves,  we  find  it  is  often  only  too  just.  At  the  close 
of  triumphant  orations  the  pastor  may  receive  praises ;  at 
each  praise  a  reproach  will  resound  in  his  heart.  Happy  for 
him  if  he  preferred  to  these  praises  the  silent  respect  of  one 
faithful  soul,  that  has  listened  to  him  in  retirement,  and 
whose  heart  he  has  touched  !  a  victory  how  much  greater 
than  to  have  excited  a  fruitless  admiration  ! 

Self-love  is  our  most  terrible  enemy,  because  it  is  our  near- 
est. Every  one  covets  praise  ;  but  there  is  a  strong  self-love 
that  has  no  bound,  which  is  vanity  ;  as  there  is  also  a  feeble 
self-love  which  is  moderate.  We  baptize  the  latter  with  the 
name  of  modesty.  This  is  not  a  virtue,  it  is  a  natural  qual- 
ity, a  simple  mark  of  good  sense.  There  is  a  great  distance 
between  modesty  and  humility :  True  humility  is  a  miracle. 
A  supernatural  grace  is  necessary  to  impart  it  to  a  minister. 
Nothing  but  love  can  remove  self-love  from  the  throne  of  his 
heart.  Love  is  an  ardent,  passionate  preoccupation,  which 
withdraws  from  every  thing  that  is  not  allied  to  itself,  from 
blame  and  from  praise  alike.  Conversion  essentially  consists 
in  love.  We  must  love  the  flock  in  order  to  preach  to  it 
well. 

There  is  one  form  of  self-love  which  manifests  itself  more 
in  the  ministry  than  in  any  other  profession  :  it  is  the  love 
of  authority.  The  pastor  in  his  parish  is  the  only  one  of  his 
class ;  he  is  called  to  command.  In  public,  at  least,  no  one 
may  dispute  with  him  ;  he  has  the  monopoly  of  the  word. 
Often  he  has  to  do  with  the  poor,  who  show  a  great  respect 
for  him  because  they  are  more  or  less  dependent  on  him. 
This  habit  of  command,  so  easily  formed,  narrows  and  fals- 
ifies his  view,  and  alienates  those  who  can  not  sacrifice  their 
tastes  to  his.  Chrysostom  has  developed  with  admirable 
force  the  dangers  of  self-love  in  the  ministry.* 

*  CHRYSOSTOM  :  De  Sacerdotio,  p.  270,  281,  287,  lib.  v.,  1,  4,  7,  8. 


68  DIFFICULTIES    OF    THE    MINISTRY 

The  danger  of  self-love  is  greater  with  the  Protestant  than 
with  the  Catholic,  who  speaks  much  less.  It  is  difficult  for 
the  Protestant  minister  not  to  give  himself  up  in  some  meas- 
ure to  the  idea  of  being  a  good  orator.  At  all  events,  a  good 
preacher  is  a  good  orator.  And  in  seeking  perfection  for  its 
own  sake,  it  is  very  difficult  not  to  seek  to  please,  were  it 
only  one's  self.  This  leads  us  to  regard  in  the  ideas  which 
are  presented  only  a  neutral  substratum,  which  has  no  value 
except  from  the  form  which  is  given  to  them. 

12.  Internal  conflicts  betiveen  Faith  and  Doubt  (in  Ger- 
man, Anfechtungen)  perhaps  more  frequent  and  more  pro- 
found with  the  pastor  than  with  the  private  Christian,  and 
in  the  midst  of  which  he  must  pursue  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry. Doubt,  as  a  psychological  fact,  has  been  little  studied. 
There  is  philosophical  doubt,  and  the  doubt  of  ignorance  ;  we 
have  nothing  to  do  with  these.  But  are  there  only  these  ? 
Is  there  not  a  state  in  which  the  best  proofs  leave  us  in  doubt  ? 
The  intellectual  proofs  are  present,  but  the  soul  is  not  con- 
vinced. Christian  assurance  is  a  different  thing  from  the  as- 
surance of  the  understanding.  Doubt  is  a  negative  state,  a 
state  of  temptation  through  which  all  have  passed.  When 
life  is  feeble,  faith  is  feeble.  Faith  increases  life,  but  life 
sustains  faith.  Faith  is  a  vision  ;  when  it  is  not  so,  it  de- 
scends to  the  rank  of  believing.  Faith  is  one  thing,  but  it 
has  its  degrees  ;  and  if,  in  such  a  situation,  one  might  retire, 
withdraw  himself,  interrupt  works  which  all  imply  faith,  he 
would  not  be  so  unhappy  ;  but  he  can  not ;  he  must  always 
preach.  Every  one  may  find  himself  in  the  state  into  which 
Richard  Baxter  fell,  and  perceive  himself  all  at  once  in  an 
absolute  void,  where  every  thing  vanishes,  not  excepting  fun- 
damental beliefs.  This  state  is  frightful.  To  come  out  of 
it,  we  must  stir  up  ourselves  to  try  anew  all  the  powers  of 
the  spirit  in  fervent  prayer. 

Gregory  Nazianzen  expresses  himself  thus  :  "In  every  spiritual  func- 
tion the  rule  is,  to  neglect  personal  interest  for  that  of  others." 


IN    ORDINARY    TIMES.  69 

13.  Internal  Humiliation  on  perceiving  in  ourselves  the 
Man  at  so  great  a  distance  from  the  Preacher. — Has  not 
the  most  faithful  man  sometimes  become  weak,  and  felt  him- 
self reproved  by  these  words  :  "  What  hast  thou  to  do  to  de- 
clare my  statutes,  and  to  take  my  covenant  into  thy  mouth, 
seeing  thou  hatest  instruction,  and  easiest  my  words  behind 
thee  ?"— Ps.  1.,  16,  17. 

14.  The  agonizing  Thought,  that  one  bears  in  his  Hands 
the  Destinies  of  so  many  Souls,  and  tftat  he  exercises  a  Min- 
istry ivhich  kills,  if  it  does  not  give  Life. — It  kills,  in  ag- 
gravating the  condemnation  of  those  who  might,  but  do  not 
profit  by  it.     Thus  it  is  with  a  faithful  ministry.     As  to  him 
who  exercises  it  without  fidelity,  and  whose  life  does  not  cor- 
respond to  his  word,  it  kills  in  another  manner.*     And  this 
thought,  that  the  scandals  we  give  are  the  greatest  of  all, 
and  that  the  least  unfaithfulness  in  us  has  the  gravest  con- 
sequences, is  enough  to  frighten  us,  and  make  us  say,  "  Lord, 
send  by  whom  thou  wilt  send."      Let  us  hear  Massillon : 
"  The  Gospel,  to  the  greater  part  of  the  people,  is  the  life  of 
the  priests  of  which  they  are  witnesses."     And  this  will  al- 
ways be  so  in  the  bosom  of  Protestantism.     "  They^  regard 
the  public  ministry  as  a  stage  designed  for  the  exhibition  of 
the  great  maxims  which  are  beyond  the  reach  of  human 
weakness ;  but  they  regard  our  life  as  the  reality,  and  the 
true  standard  to  which  they  should  conform."    And  further, 
"  We  are  pillars  of  the  sanctuary,  which,  if  overthrown  and 
cast  about  in  public  places,  become  stones  of  stumbling  to 
passengers."! 

15.  The  most  deplorable  case  is  when  these  wounds,  which 

*  "  Par  fois  li  communal  clergie, 

Voi-je  malement  engignie, 
Icil  font  le  si£cle  mescroire." 

La  Bible  Guyot  (Troizteme  Sidcle). 

t  MASSILLON  :  Discours  sur  Vexcellence  du  Sacerdoce.     First  Reflec- 
tion, near  the  end. 


70  ADVANTAGES    OF    THE    MINISTRY. 

the  consolations  of  God  alone  should  heal,  become  healed  by 
habit,  and  by  a  false  resignation — a  case  which  too  often  oc- 
curs. As  it  has  been  said,  "  repeated  repentance  wears  out 
the  soul,"*  and  puts  it,  so  to  speak,  out  of  humor  with  itself. 
All  these  troubles  are  painful,  but  there  are  many  of  them 
which  it  is  more  hurtful  to  avoid  than  grievous  to  submit  to  ; 
and  all  need  to  be  foreseen,  and,  as  it  were,  tasted  beforehand. 

To  this  enumeration,  perhaps  incomplete,  and  of  which  no 
trait,  perhaps,  is  presented  strongly  enough,  we  may  with  con- 
fidence oppose,  as  a  compensation,  the  following  advantages  : 

Religion,  which  is  the  most  excellent  thing,  and  the  whole 
concern  of  man,  is  the  minister's  office  and  duty  for  all  days 
and  all  hours  ;  that  which  mingles  itself  with  the  life  of 
other  men  constitutes  his  life. 

He  lives  in  the  midst  of  the  loftiest  and  sublimest  ideas, 
and  of  occupations  of  the  highest  utility. 

He  is  called  to  do  nothing  but  good  ;  nothing  obliges  him, 
nothing  entices  him  to  do  evil. 

He  occupies  no  rank  in  the  social  hierarchy,  belongs  to  no 
class,  but  serves  as  a  bond  to  all ;  representing  in  himself 
better  than  any  other,  the  ideal  unity  of  society.  The  min- 
ister, it  is  true,  is  not  so  well  situated  in  this  respect  as  the 
unmarried  priest.  But  yet  he  may  have  this  privilege  when 
he  wishes  it. 

This  life,  unless  circumstances  are  very  unfavorable,  is  the 
most  proper  realization  of  the  ideal  of  a  happy  life.  It  has  a 
great  regularity,  a  sort  of  uniform  calm,  where,  perhaps,  is 
to  be  found  the  true  place  of  earthly  happiness.  The  pre- 
dilection of  poets  and  romancers  for  the  character  of  a  coun- 
try pastor  is  not  without  foundation.  All  this  is  true  only  on 
the  supposition  that  the  pastor  is  faithful,  and  filled  with  the 
spirit  of  his  profession.  If  he  has  this  spirit,  all  is  counter- 
balanced, corrected,  transformed  ;  and  it  suffices  him,  with- 
*  Allusion  to  a  passage  from  Corinne,  book  x.,c.  v. — Editor. 


ADVANTAGES    OF    THE    MINISTRY.  71 

out  minutely  weighing  the  inconveniences  and  advantages, 
to  make  one  reflection  :  "  Jesus  Christ  assigns  to  his  minis- 
ters painful  trials,  internal  and  external,  to  the  end  that  they 
may  sympathize  with  their  flock,  and  know,  from  their  own 
heart,  the  seduction  of  sin,  the  infirmities  of  the  flesh,  and 
the  manner  in  which  the  Lord  sustains  and  supports  all 
those  who  trust  in  him.*  So  that,  in  a  certain  degree,  one 
may  transfer  to  the  minister  what  has  been  said  of  Jesus 
Christ :  "  We  have  not  a  high-priest  who  can  not  be  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  but  was  in  all  things 
tempted  as  we  are." — Heb.,  iv.,  15. 

In  short,  the  word  of  God,  directly  or  indirectly,  blesses  pe- 
culiarly his  labors  and  his  estate. 

It  declares  (remark  the  gradation)  that  "  those  who  are 
wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament,  and  those 
who  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever." 
— Dan.,  xii.,  3. 

In  promising  to  the  immediate  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ 
that,  in  the  renovation  of  all  things,  "  they  shall  sit  upon 
thrones,  to  judge  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,"  it  presents  to 
their  successors  proportional  honors  and  rewards.  —  Matt., 
TUX.,  28. 

It  so  honors  and  blesses  the  ministry,  that  even  to  those 
who  aid  it  special  promises  are  given  :  "  He  who  receiveth  a 
prophet  in  the  name  of  a  prophet,  shall  receive  a  prophet'* 
reward." — Matt.,  x.,  41. 


$  7.   Call  to  the  Evangelical  Ministry. 

But  the  advantages  of  the  present  life  which  we  have  men- 
tioned, and  the  promises  of  the  life  to  come  to  which  we  havo 
referred,  will  be,  the  first  wholly  deceptive,  the  second  with- 
out effect,  for  the  minister  who  becomes  one  without  a  call 
to  the  ministry.  We  must  put  a  call  into  the  balance  as  a 
*  JOHN  NEWTON  :  Cardiphonia,  vol.  iii.,  p.  12. 


72  NECESSITY    OF    VOCATION 

weight,  to  raise  that  other  scale,  so  full  of  griefs  and  fatigues, 
which  the  want  of  a  call  not  only  does  not  mitigate,  but 
fearfully  aggravates.  Apart  from  a  call,  all  the  advantages 
vanish ;  some  also  of  the  disadvantages  will  disappear,  and 
there  remains  a  life  the  most  false,  and,  consequently,  the 
most  unhappy,  that  can  be  imagined. 

It  is  always  unhappy  to  be  unequal  to  the  business  which 
we  have  to  perform,  or  to  feel  ourselves  out  of  sympathy  with 
it ;  but  this  unhappiness  is  inexpressible  in  the  case  of  the 
ministry,  and  nothing  can  save  us  from  it  but  insensibility  or 
degradation  ;  while,  though  every  thing  be  adverse,  and  the 
trials  of  the  ministry  be  carried  to  the  highest  degree  imag- 
inable, a  call  corrects  every  thing,  renders  every  thing  agree- 
able, and  makes  these  troubles  themselves  an  element  of 
happiness. 

But  it  is  not  only  under  the  aspect  of  happiness  or  unhap- 
piness that  we  must  contemplate  the  subject.  The  minis- 
ter without  a  call  is  not  only  unhappy,  he  is  guilty ;  he  oc- 
cupies a  place,  he  exercises  a  right  which  does  not  belong  to 
him.  He  is,  as  Jesus  Christ  said,  a  hireling  and  a  robber, 
who  has  not  entered  by  the  door,  but  by  a  breach. 

The  word  call  has,  when  applied  to  professions  of  a  tem- 
poral order,  only  a  figurative  signification  ;  at  least,  we  only 
so  understand  it.  It  is  equivalent  to  talent,  aptitude,  taste. 
It  has  been  natural  to  represent  these  terms  as  voices,  as 
calls.  But,  applied  to  the  ministry,  the  word  approaches  its 
proper  sense.  When  conscience  commands,  and  obliges  us  to 
discharge  a  certain  task,  we  have  that  which,  next  to  a  mir- 
acle, merits  best  the  name  of  a  call.  And  it  must  be  noth- 
ing less.  To  exercise  legitimately  the  ministry,  we  must  have 
been  called  to  it. 

I  do  not  wish,  however,  to  draw  too  strictly  the  line  of  dis- 
tinction between  the  ministry  and  temporal  professions  in  re- 
spect to  a  call.  Wherever  there  is  responsibility,  wherever 
one  may  do  injury  in  charging  himself  with  a  work  which  is 


IN    THE    TWO    TESTAMENTS.  73 

not  his,  there  is  room  for  inquiring  whether  he  is  called  to 
it.  And  even  between  two  occupations,  to  one  of  which  he 
is  better  suited  than  to  the  other,  and  in  one  of  which  he  may 
be  more  useful  than  the  other,  there  is  one  to  which,  in  a 
Christian  point  of  view,  we  may  say  he  is  called. 

This  idea  is  consecrated  in  the  Old  Testament,  all  the 
parts  of  which,  provided  they  are  spiritualized,  may  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  New.  No  one  was  a  prophet  to  his  superior, 
at  least  in  the  special  sense  of  the  word  prophet;  for  there 
is  another  sense  in  which  prophesying  belongs  to  all,  as  for- 
cibly appears  from  the  beautiful  words  of  Moses,  "  Would  to 
God  that  all  the  Lord's  people  were  prophets." — Num.,  xi., 
29.  He  fulfilled  an  extraordinary  vocation  because  it  con- 
ferred extraordinary  powers.  Whatever  may  be  the  author- 
ity of  the  pastor,  in  one  sense,  it  will  always  remain  inferior 
to  that  of  the  prophet.*  Now  prophets  could  not  be  in- 
vested with  such  an  authority  without  an  express  call ;  and 
we  understand,  in  this  view  of  the  case,  the  threatenings  de- 
nounced against  those  who  should  prophesy  without  a  call : 
"  If  a  prophet  shall  presume  to  speak  in  my  name  a  word 
which  I  have  not  commanded  him  to  speak,  that  prophet 
shall  die." — Deut.,  xviii.,  20.  "  Say  thou  to  them  that  proph- 
esy out  of  their  own  heart,  Woe  to  the  foolish  prophets  that 
follow  their  own  spirit,  and  have  seen  nothing  !"t — Ezek., 
xiii.,  2,  3.  "  I  am  against  the  prophets  that  steal  my  words." 
— Jer.,  \\iii..  30.- 

Mutatis  mutandis,  the  necessity  of  a  call  remains,  and  on 
this  point,  as  on  others,  we  only  need  to  translate  the  Old 
Testament  in  the  language  of  the  New.  The  ages  are  des- 
tined to  replace  one  another,  but  the  foundation  of  eternal 
truth  remains  always  the  same.  It  is  ever  true,  then,  that 

*  See  Isaiah,  xxxix.,  verse  3,  seq. 

t  This  same  idea  is  symbolized  in  Numbers,  i.,  51,  "When  the 
tabernacle  is  to  be  pitched,  the  Levites  shall  set  it  up,  and  the  stran- 
ger that  cometh  nigh  shall  be -put  to  death." 

D 


v$  -^        •* 

74  NECESSITY    OF    VOCATION. 

in  one  way  or  another,  to  do  the  work  of  God,  we  must  be 
called  of  God. 

Now  that  the  voice  of  God  is  not  directly  and  sensibly  ad- 
dressed to  an  individual,  to  call  him  to  the  office  of  a  proph- 
et, we  distinguish  two  sorts  of  vocation,  the  one  external,  the 
other  internal ;  but  it  is  clear  that  both,  to  be  true,  must  be 
of  God  ;  for  in  either  case  it  must  be  God  who  calls. 

Now  the  external  or  mediate  vocation  can  have  this  char- 
acter, in  our  view,  only  as  we  regard  the  men  from  whom 
it  comes,  as  having  full  power,  either  conferred  in  casu,  or 
conferred  once  for  all  on  a  few,  by  whom  it  was  conferred  on 
others,  and  so  on.  This  is  the  Catholic  system  or  pretension: 
we  shall  not  discuss  it.* 

In  the  Protestant  system,  which  denies  the  Catholic  suc- 
cession, and  does  not  pretend  to  begin  a  new  one,  there  is 
nothing  parallel  to  this  transmission  of  full  powers  ;  of  which, 
moreover,  we  do  not  see  the  object,  as  this  legal  transmission 

*  In  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  the  question  of  the 
succession  gave  rise  to  many  disputes.  On  this  question  the  Catho- 
lics, with  a  fixed,  absolute  doctrine,  had  a  better  and  a  more  exactly 
defined  position  than  the  Protestants,  who,  though  they  discarded  the 
priesthood,  contended  for  the  succession.  Dumoulin  earnestly  main- 
tained that  all  the  Protestant  ministers  had  been  consecrated  by  Cath- 
olics. This  was  an  error,  and  it  was  needless.  By  the  progress  of 
time,  this  pretension  has  been  dropped.  The  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 
an  Anglican,  has  shown,  with  resistless  force,  that  the  succession  is 
a  chimera.  According  to  bun,  one  instance  of  irregular  vocation 
breaks  the  chain.1  This  idea,  however,  is  of  no  moment  to  us :  It 
was  opposed  by  Claude,  though  not  always  with  good  arguments.  He 
thinks  that  it  is  the  Church  and  the  pastors  united  who  confer  the  out- 
ward call.  He  is  not  in  favor  of  having  the  pastors  act  alone  in  this 
case,  for  they  may  not  be  believers ;  while  in  the  Church  there  al- 
ways are  believers  and  saints.  There  is,  then,  an  uninterrupted  suc- 
cession in  the  calls  given  by  this  universal  and  everlasting  Church. 
Still,  he  admits  that  a  flock  may  sometimes  call  a  pastor  without  the 
concurrence  of  other  pastors. 

>  See  WHATELT  :  Kingdom  of  Christ. 


EXTERNAL    VOCATION.  75 

meets  no  want  which  can  not  be  satisfied  without  it.  To 
maintain  the  necessity  for  such  a  transmission,  is  to  displace 
the  Holy  Spirit.  But  as  our  wants  are  met  by  a  transmis- 
sion of  spirit  and  of  life,  as  we  do  not  need  a  communication 
of  oracles,  or  the  administration  of  miraculous  power  ;  the  or- 
dinary agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit  suffices.  The  external  call 
then,  if  it  exists,  occupies  only  a  subordinate  rank,  and  re- 
mains in  the  sphere  of  humanity. 

Moreover,  as  soon  as  we  compare  it  with  the  internal  call, 
as  soon  as  we  give  the  latter  its  proper  place,  it  at  once  as- 
sumes the  superiority.  Catholics  have  not  been  able  to  deny 
this ;  but  not  to  give  it  all  the  ground,  and  let  it  absorb  the 
external  call,  they  have  assigned  to  this  latter  extraordinary 
reasons,  which  we,  for  our  part,  can  not  give  to  it.  And  yet 
without  these  it  is  not,  and  can  not  be,  on  the  one  side,  more 
than  a  measure  of  order  ;  and,  on  the  other,  more  than  a  sub- 
sidy or  complement  to  the  internal  call.  In  our  system,  the 
external  call  recognizes,  as  far  as  possible,  the  internal,  which 
it  always  presupposes.  The  judgment  respecting  what  is  out- 
ward is  here  connected  with  a  judgment  as  to  what  is  intern- 
al, and  always  assumes  the  internal  as  a  reality. 

Besides,  this  whole  question  may  be  dismissed.  The  ne- 
cessity of  the  internal  call,  acknowledged  by  the  Catholics  as 
well  as  the  Protestants,  is  all  that  we  are  concerned  with. 
The  point  we  have  to  establish  is,  that  without  at  least  an 
internal  call  from  God,  one  can  not  with  safety  or  innocence 
put  his  hand  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  ;  or,  to  speak  bet- 
ter, take  a  place  in  the  Church  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel. 
The  question  as  to  being  called  or  not  called  by  others,  I  do 
not  discuss.  This  question,  on  which  there  is  division,  and 
which  also  does  not  belong  to  my  subject,  I  waive,  to  treat 
only  of  one  on  which  there  is  agreement,  and  which  does  be- 
long to  my  subject. 

As  it  is  in  the  name  of  another,  that  is,  of  God,  that  a  min- 


76  INTERNAL    VOCATION. 

ister  officiates,  he  must  be  sent.  The  prophet  does  not  say, 
I  will  go  ;  he  says,  "  Here  am  I,  Lord  ;  send  me." — Is.,  vi., 
8.  The  spontaneity  in  this  matter  does  not  exclude  the  mis- 
sion or  the  call.  The  charge  of  a  pastor  is  a  charge,  a  min- 
istry. This  implies  sending  or  vocation.  One  can  no  more 
be  a  minister  without  a  call,  than  a  magistrate  or  a  judge. 

It  also  follows  that  we  have  no  warrant  for  relying  on  the 
divine  aid  and  favor  unless  God  has  sent  us.*  A  minister 
without  a  call  does  not,  it  is  true,  concern  himself  as  to  this  ; 
but  we  are  not  now  considering  the  extreme  case  of  a  min- 
ister who  has  no  sense  of  the  object  of  his  mission,  and  no 
desire  to  gain  it — one  whom  the  Gospel  names  plainly  a 
thief.  A  minister  without  a  call  may  desire  to  act  consist- 
ently with  his  title,  at  least  in  a  negative  way  ;  to  avoid 
scandal ;  to  honor  his  profession ;  not  to  profane  the  minis- 
try. But  how  can  he  be  sure  even  as  to  this  ?  how  venture 
to  expect  even  this  measure  of  favor,  when  he  occupies  an 
office  to  which  he  has  no  right,  and  when  the  first  means  of 
securing  the  divine  favor  would  be  to  resign  the  office  ? 

We  must,  then,  be  called  of  God  A  call  to  a  ministry 
which  is  exercised  in  the  name  of  God,  and  in  which  he  is 
represented,  can  emanate  only  from  him.t  The  business 
here,  in  fact,  is  not  our's ;  it  is  another's,  and  that  other  is 
God  :  In  a  word,  it  is  a  ministry.  Whether  external  or  in- 
ternal, the  call  ought  to  be  Divine  ;  and  speaking  of  it  in  this 
view,  we  name  it  mediate  or  immediate. 

Men  mediately  called  by  God  must  have  received  full 
powers,  either  from  God,  or  from  other  men  through  whom 
God  confers  them.  If  these  full  powers  be  denied,  the  ex- 
ternal or  mediate  call  becomes  but  a  conventional  affair,  reg- 
ulating the  internal  relations  of  a  religious  society  ;  not  im- 
plying necessarily,  but  only  assuming  a  general  fitness  for 
the  ministry ;  and  as  to  the  candidate,  it  is  only  one  more 

*  See  MASSILLON  :  Discours  sur  la  Vocation  a  Petal  Ecclesiastiquc. 
t  Eaekiel,  iii.,  2;  Jeremiah,  xxiii.,  21. 


VOCATION    MEDIATE    OR   IMMEDIATE.  77 

means  of  establishing  his  vocation.  We  shall  defer  the  con- 
sideration of  the  subject  under  this  point  of  view. 

As  the  ministry  is  purely  moral,  not  sacramental,  the  qual- 
ifications for  it  are  purely  moral,  and  an  immediate  call 
should  be  sufficient.* 

Accordingly,  in  one  system  this  call  is  sufficient,  as  in  both 
it  is  held  to  be  necessary.  In  any  ecclesiastical  system  which 
has  its  basis  in  Christianity,  it  can  neither  be  overlooked  or 
lightly  esteemed.  In  only  one  form  of  government  might  it 
be  superfluous,  namely,  that  of  a  theocracy  supported  by  mir- 
acles, t  Missions  like  that  of  Jonah  can  not  be  conceived 
under  the  evangelic  law.  But  where  the  external  call  is  de- 
clared indispensable,  the  internal  or  immediate  necessarily 
suffers. 

Catholic  writers  have  always  felt  embarrassed  in  explain- 
ing themselves  on  this  point.  Saint  Cyran,  for  example, 
manifestly  inclining  to  the  interior  call,  and  not  well  know- 
ing how  to  dispose  of  the  exterior,  thus  expresses  himself: 
"As  he  who  has  not  been  called  to  the  priesthood  by  the 
external  call  of  the  Church  can,  in  the  Church's  judgment, 
do  nothing  useful  for  her,  although  he  performs  the  same  ex- 
ternal works,  administers  the  same  sacraments,  and  preaches 

*  Immediate  vocation  is  external  or  internal.  External,  when  God 
immediately,  by  himself,  causes  his  voice  to  be  heard,  and  his  will  to 
be  known.  Such  was  the  miraculous  call  addressed  to  the  prophets 
by  a  voice,  in  apparition  or  in  vision. 

t  But  even  here  it  has  not  been  represented  as  superfluous.  It  is 
not,  in  every  case,  necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  divine 
purpose,  but  to  him  who  accomplishes  it  it  is  in  every  case  necessa- 
ry. Jonah  and  Balaam,  in  spite  of  themselves,  and  not  of  their  own 
choice,  executed  the  will  of  God.  "  Send  me,"  said  Isaiah  (vi.,  8) ; 
and  the  qualification  of  the  messenger  has  almost  always,  even  un- 
der the  old  law  been  regarded  of  some,  and  even  of  much  import- 
ance, to  the  success  of  the  mission.  Many  things  seem  to  have  been 
left  at  the  option  of  the  prophets.  Even  the  Levite,  in  the  fulfill- 
ment of  his  duties,  was  permitted,  in  a  small  measure,  to  use  his  own 
discretion. 


78  CATHOLIC    POINT    OF    VIEW. 

the  same  Gospel  as  the  other  priests  who  have  been  regularly 
called  and  ordained  by  the  Church,  so  he  who  has  not  the 
interior  call  of  God  to  the  ecclesiastical  estate — to  the  priest's 
office,  or  to  a  curacy,  can  do  nothing  good  for  himself  in  the 
judgment  of  God,  although  he  does  the  same  good  works  and 
administers  the  same  sacraments  as  the  priest  whom  God 
has  called  to  it."* 

Those  who  maintain  the  sufficiency  of  the  internal  call 
may  be  content  with  the  second  part  of  this  paragraph;  and 
the  first  can  not  give  them  much  trouble,  since  they  hence 
learn  that,  although  not  ordained  by  the  Church,  they  may 
preach  tJie  Gospel.  We  may,  then,  do  all,  for  all  is  included 
in  this,  unless  the  administration  of  the  sacrament  implies 
miraculous  power ;  which  certainly  no  one  on  his  own  author- 
ity can  ascribe  to  it,  and  for  which  the  immediate  call  is  not 
sufficient,  unless  it  has  in  itself  a  miraculous  character. 

But  a  question  presents  itself:  The  immediate  call  being 
no  longer  addressed  from  God  to  man  by  a  miraculous  voice, 
may  it  not  be  said  that  there  is  no  longer  an  immediate  call  ? 

This  might  be  said  if,  in  truth,  man,  apart  from  super- 
natural communications,  has  no  means  of  assuring  himself 
concerning  the  will  of  God  in  respect  to  a  particular  case ; 
and  in  respect  to  a  choice  among  many  determinations,  of 
which  each  one  accords  with  the  general  principles  of  mo- 
rality. 

For  it  is  here,  and  here  only,  that  the  word  call  is  ap- 
plicable. There  is  no  place  for  a  call  to  the  practice  of  the 
general  duties  of  morality.  There  is  place  for  one  when  we 
have  to  choose  between  two  courses  of  conduct — two  employ- 
ments of  our  faculties,  equally  sanctioned  by  morality  and  by 
the  spirit  of  the  Gospel. 

Now,  as  the  sensible,  direct  call,  expressly  from  God,  is 
wanting,  by  what  can  this  be  supplied  ?  In  other  words, 
how  may  we  know  that  we  are  called  ?  Not,  certainly,  by 
*  SAINT  CYRAN  :  Lettre  a  M.  Guillebert  sur  le  Sacerdoce,  c.  25. 


*• 
FALSE    SIGNS    OF    VOCATION.  79 

finding  ourselves  in  an  agreeable  and  tranquil  position  in  the 
exercise  of  the  ministry.  Nor  from  our  having  been  devoted 
to  the  ministry  by  our  parents.  The  vow  of  parents,  if 
it  be  serious,  may  be  blessed,  and  in  respect  to  many  pastors 
it  may  be,  in  some  sense,  a  preliminary  call.  A  child  de- 
voted by  his  parents  to  the  ministry  may  hence  derive  a  cer- 
tain preference  for  it ;  but  this  is  not  a  call  to  it.  Still  less 
is  constraint.  This  had  influence  in  the  early  days  of  the 
Church:  even  in  the  time  of  Chrysostom  the  idea  of  priest 
and  of  sacrifice  was  prevalent,  which  explains  how  it  was 
that  constraint  itself  made  an  indelible  impression.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  signs,  which  with  many  persons  are  de- 
cisive. They  first  select  and  then  interpret  the  signs,  and 
thus  determine  their  own  lot.  This  with  Christians  is  a 
sort  of  spiritual  sloth — to  desire  the  whole  truth,  without 
being  at  the  trouble  to  seek  for  it,  by  prayer,  labor,  and  appli- 
cation. While  we  have  conscience  and  the  Word  of  God, 
we  need  no  other  guide.  Finally,  no  one,  surely,  will  say 
that  interest  may  be  taken  instead  of  that  direct  call  from 
God  of  which  we  are  now  speaking. 

But  what  are  the  decisive  indications  ?  The  call  to  the 
ministry  evidences  itself,  like  every  other,  by  natural  means, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Word  and  Spirit  of  God.  In 
vocation,  the  general  rule  is  to  satisfy  ourselves  as  to  the 
course  of  life  for  which  we  regard  ourselves  as  best  suited, 
and  in  which  we  think  we  can  be  most  useful.  "And  in 
this  matter,  if  we  would  attain  to  clearness  and  firmness,  we 
should  combine  in  our  view  circumstances  and  principles 
which  have  been  established  by  good  sense  and  God  himself.* 

*  "I  have  never  conceived  of  a  divine  call  (goettlicher  Beruf)  as 
any  thing  more  than  an  external  occasion  which  has  presented  it- 
self for  doing  or  realizing  something  good,  under  a  religious  impulse, 
and,  of  course,  through  the  divine  agency." — PLANK,  Das  erste  Amt*- 
jahr,  page  8. 


80  SIGNS    OF    A    TRUE    CALL. 

But  when  we  have  to  do  with  a  moral  action,  in  which  the 
soul  is  the  instrument  with  which  we  act,  we  must  have  re- 
gard to  the  state  of  the  soul,  which,  indeed,  is  the  principal 
element  in  the  call.  In  respect  to  an  ordinary  profession,  we 
sometimes  must  abstract  the  sentiments  we  have  toward  it, 
hold  ourselves  aloof  against  the  attractions  of  taste,  and  fol- 
low it  uninfluenced  by  taste.*  This  is  not  the  general  rule  ; 
it  is  rather  an  exception  which  is  more  or  less  frequent.  In 
respect  to  the  ministry,  however,  the  rule  is  absolute  :  there 
is  no  exception.  The  soul's  conformity  to  the  object  of  the 
ministry  is  necessary  ;  and  this  conformity  embraces  these  ele- 
ments :  faith,  taste  or  desire,  and/m/.f 

As  to  faith  or  belief  in  the  reality  of  the  object — the  truth 
of  the  message  we  bear  as  ministers — there  is  no  need  either 
of  explanation  or  proof.  As  to  desire,  this  must  be  added  to 
faith,  in  order  to  constitute  a  call ;  for  if  faith  were  sufficient, 
every  Christian  ought  to  be  a  minister.  We  must  not  say 
that  faith  includes  desire.  It  does,  indeed,  include  the  gen- 
oral  desire  of  living  as  far  as  we  can  to  the  glory  of  God,  but 
not  the  particular  desire  of  having  the  ministry  as  our  work, 
and  of  consecrating  to  this  work  our  whole  life.  The  insti- 
tution of  the  ministry  supposes,  as  its  ground,  that  every  one 
is  not  called  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  But,  when  fitness 
for  the  ministry  exists,  will  not  this  supply  the  place  of  desire, 
and  be  sufficient  evidence  of  a  call  ?  Fitness,  we  reply,  does 
not  exist  when  the  desire  does  not.  When  the  desire  is  want- 
ing (and  we  have  seen  that  it  may  be  wanting  in  a  true  Chris- 
tian), there  is  not  that  harmony  of  the  man  with  his  duties, 
that  intimate  understanding  of  the  matter,  that  undivided 
heart,  which  are  so  essential  to  the  success  of  the  work.  We 
do  not  say  that  a  Christian  will  do  no  good  who  engages  in 
this  work  without  a  taste  for  it ;  we  only  say  that  he  has  no 
call,  and  that  he  ought  to  leave  this  office  to  others,  except 

*  In  this  sense  there  may  be  a  vocatio  ab  as  well  as  a  vocalio  ad. 
t  "Rejoice  with  trembling." — Psalm  ii.,  11. 


SIGNS    OP    A    TRUE    CALL.  81 

when  the  peculiarity  of  time  or  place  may,  as  it  were,  prov- 
identially impose  it  on  him.  In  the  absence  of  all  proper  in- 
struments, God  seems  to  say,  as  in  the  prophet,  "  Whom  shall 
I  send  ?"  and  seems  to  expect  from  every  or  any  one  who 
has  the  requisite  ability  the  reply  of  the  prophet,  "  Here  am 
I ;  send  me."* 

But,  though  desire  is  the  first  sign  of  vocation,  it  is  an 
equivocal  sign.  It  is  necessary  to  ascertain  well  its  object. 
It  is  necessary  to  know  whether  it  be  the  ministry  itself,  or 
something  in  the  ministry,  which  suits  our  taste.  The  taste, 
the  inclination,  we  feel  for  the  ministry  may  be  superficial,  car- 
nal, erroneous  as  to  the  object.  It  may  be  that  what  we  like 
in  the  ministry  is  a  respectable  and  honored  profession,  or  the 
sphere  and  the  occasions  which  it  offers  for  the  exercise  of 
talents  with  which  we  may  think  ourselves  endowed ;  the 
power  of  public  speaking,!  moral  views  which  are  not  strictly 
religious  ;  J  or  a  vague  religious  sentimentalism ;  or  an  unre- 
flecting enthusiasm,  an  ideal  image,  the  poetry  of  the  thing. 
The  imagination,  in  these  questions,  is  apt  to  take  the  place 
of  the  conscience  and  the  heart. 

Newton  gives  an  excellent  rule  for  deciding  whether  we 
have  a  true  desire  for  the  ministry.  "I  hold  it,"  he  says,  "a 
good  rule  to  inquire  whether  the  desire  to  preach  is  most  fer- 
vent in  our  most  lively  and  spiritual  frames,  or  when  we  are 
laid  in  the  dust  before  the  Lord.  If  so,  it  is  a  good  sign.  But 
if,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  a  person  is  very  earnest  to  be  a 

*  Isaiah,  vi.,  8.  The  absence  of  taste  is  not  repugnance,  disgust 
for  the  ministry,  which  can  not  exist  in  a  Christian — it  is  often  but  a 
taste  for  something  else. 

t  An  object  of  ambition  to  one  class  of  minds  far  above  the  com- 
mand of  armies  or  civil  empire.  The  pulpit,  as  a  means  of  gaining 
it,  is  not  surpassed  by  the  forum  or  the  senate-house. — Traml. 

t  The  ministry  favors  all  the  interests  of  general  morality,  of  tem- 
perance, honesty,  industry,  frugality,  chastity ;  and  these  are  higher 
in  the  regards  of  some  men  than  the  interests  of  spiritual  religion. — 
Transl. 

D2 


82  SIGNS    OF    A    TRUE    CALL. 

preacher  to  others  when  he  finds  but  little  hungerings  and 
thirstings  after  grace  in  his  own  soul,  it  is  then  to  be  feared 
his  zeal  springs  rather  from  a  selfish  principle  than  from  the 
spirit  of  God."* 

We  give  a  rule  included  in  Newton's,  when  we  propose  to 
the  candidate  to  inquire  if  the  impulse  which  induces  him  to 
devote  himself  to  the  ministry  is  the  same  with  the  object 
of  the  ministry  as  made  known  to  him  by  the  Gospel.  If 
his  ruling  motive  can  express  itself  in  the  terms  which  define 
the  institution  of  the  evangelical  ministry,  it  is  a  good  one. 

Can  you,  we  would  say  to  him,  adopt,  as  expressing  your 
self-consecration,  these  words  of  St.  Paul :  "  And  all  things 
are  of  God,  who  hath  reconciled  us  to  himself  by  Jesus 
Christ,  and  .hath  given  to  us  the  ministry  of  reconciliation. 
To  wit,  that  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  to 
himself,  not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto  them,  and  hath 
committed  to  us  the  word  of  reconciliation.  Now  then  we 
are  embassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you 
by  us  :  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to 
God."— 2  Cor.,  v.,  18-20. 

Have  you  in  your  heart  any  measure  of  the  feeling  which 
St.  Paul  expresses  when  he  says,  "  My  little  children,  of  whom 
I  travail  in  birth  till  Christ  be  formed  in  you  ?" — Gal.,  iv.,  19. 

With  your  whole  heart  do  you  receive  this  precept  of  the 
apostle  :  "  Let  the  same  mind  be  in  you  which  was  also  in 
Christ  Jesus,  who,  being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not 
robbery  to  be  equal  with  God,  but  made  himself  of  no  repu- 
tation, and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant." — Phil.,  ii., 
5-7. 

Do  you  enter  fully  and  freely  into  the  thought,  "  I  fill  up 
that  which  is  behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ,  in  my  flesh, 
for  his  Body's  sake,  which  is  the  Church." 

In  a  word,  a  desire  springing  from  love  ;  from  ambition, 
but  for  God  only — the  desire  of  God's  glory  ;  love  for,  or  at 
*  NEWTON  :  Cnrdiphonta,  vol.  ii.,  p.  45. 


SIGNS    OF    A    TRUE    CALL.  83 

least  ready  submission  to,  whatever  in  the  ministry  is  labori- 
ous, painful,  humiliating,  diminutive  ;  do  you  recognize  these 
traits  in  the  inclination  of  your  mind  toward  this  excellent 
office,  and  do  you  esteem  it  excellent  regarded  in  this  point 
of  view,  and  as  involving  such  inconveniences  ?  If  you  do, 
you  may  rest  assured  that  in  this  first  respect,  desire  for  the 
ministry,  your  call  is  genuine.* 

This  touchstone  would  be  infallible,  if  any  thing  could  be 
in  our  hands  ;  but  we  may  easily  be  mistaken  :  Let  us  then 
enter  further  into  this  inquiry. 

In  order  to  be  fully  assured  that  we  have  a  true  call,  we 
must  possess  in  some  degree,  or,  at  least,  must  desire,  three 
excellent  and  inseparable  qualities  :  the  love  of  man,  the 
love  of  God's  glory,  and  the  love  of  our  own  spiritual  wel- 
fare. We  shall  begin  with  the  glory  of  God,  where  ordina- 
rily we  do  not  begin.  The  motive  which  inclines  us  to  do 
good  to  our  fellows  is  excellent  and  necessary,  but  is  often 
rather  a  natural  than  a  Christian  sentiment.  Common  be- 
nevolence may  be  easily  mistaken  for  charity,  or  the  love  of 
souls.  A  desire  to  do  good  to  mankind  may  be  regarded  as 
a  call  to  the  ministry.  We  must  have  a  more  elevated  spir- 
itual affection,  of  which  we  can  only  become  conscious  by 
perceiving  in  ourselves  a  love  of  the  Divine  glory.  But  one 
may  have  a  sort  of  logical,  reasonable  affection  for  God,  and 
say  to  himself,  for  example,  God  has  done  all  things  for  us, 
we  ought  to  do  every  thing  for  him.  This  is  not,  true  love, 
for  love  does  not  reason.  Our  love  for  God  should  be  like 
the  infant's  love  for  his  parent,  a  wife's  for  her  husband. 
Nothing  is  more  strange  to  the  heart  of  man  than  this  desire 
for  the  glory  of  God  ;  nothing  marks  more  decisively  our 
birth  to  a  new  life.  When  one  perceives  unfolding  in  him- 
self this  strange  desire,  so  chimerical  to  the  natural  man, 

*  On  the  purity  of  motives,  see  MASSIT.LON,  Discours  surla  Vocation 
d  Fetat  Ecclesiastique,  the  paragraph  beginning  with  these  words  :  "  Le 
dernier  temoignage  que  doit  vous  rendre  votre  conscience,"  &c. 


84  SIGNS    OF    A    TRUE    CALL. 

this  necessity  that  God  be  honored,  glorified  in  the  world, 
then  may  he  think  himself  called  to  the  ministry  ;  and  even 
when  it  may^seem  that  souls  may  be  saved  otherwise  than 
by  his  means,  he  must  proceed. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  insist  on  the  love  of  men.  The  love 
of  our  own  spiritual  welfare  is  only  a  secondary  consideration. 
We  may  seek,  in  the  ministry,  a  spiritual  asylum  ;  we  may 
desire  to  put  ourselves  under  the  covert  of  the  sanctuary  ;  but 
this  should  not  be  our  determining  motive. 

As  to  fear,  desire  does  not  exclude  it ;  these  two  feelings 
regulate  one  another,  and  constitute  that  "joy  with  trem- 
bling" of  which  the  Psalmist  speaks.  The  fear  to  which  we 
refer  results  from  a  view  of  the  greatness  of  God,  and  of  our 
own  weakness.  The  Christian  who,  before  his  conversion,  had 
no  fear  of  offending  God,  finds  himself  exercised  with  strange 
fears.  The  minister  has  yet  more  of  feeling  and  of  fear  from 
his  own  un worthiness  and  weakness.  Fear  hence  arising  is 
not  groundless  or  unnecessary  ;  and  it  may  repel,  at  least  for 
the  moment,  a  candidate  who  has  the  deepest  consciousness 
of  being  called.  Not  after  a  fall,  but  at  the  highest  degree 
of  Christian  strength,  may  this  momentary  repulsion  take 
place.  At  no  time  should  this  fear  be  wanting,  though  oth- 
er elements  should  counterbalance  it ;  and  thus  should  it  be 
with  us,  even  to  the  end  of  the  pastoral  career.  Indeed, 
since  the  more  deeply  we  enter  into  the  ministry  the  more 
awful  it  appears,  this  feeling  should  be  constantly  increas- 
ing. "  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?" — 2  Cor.,  ii.,  16. 

After  this,  it  is  almost  needless  to  put  conversion*  in  the 
number  and  at  the  head  of  the  elements  of  vocation.  Vari- 
ous meanings  may  be  given  to  the  word  conversion,  yet  there 
can  be  no  question  as  to  the  legitimacy  of  a  call  such  as  we 
have  characterized.  In  our  apprehension,  conversion  is  in- 
cluded in  desire  such  as  we  have  defined.  This  desire  is 

*  "When  thou  art  converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren."  —  John, 
xxii.,  33. 


SIGNS    OF    A    TRUE    CALL.  85 

conversion  itself,  and  something  more  ;  whence  it  was  that, 
to  avoid  confusion  and  repetition,  we  did  not  speak  of  the 
conversion  of  the  candidate  hefore  speaking  of  an  inclination 
to  the  ministry. 

If,  however,  we  take  conversion  as  including  love  to  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  interest,  it  is  unquestionably  the  first  seal  of 
vocation.  Though  we  may  love  Christ  without  being  called 
to  the  ministry,  we  can  not  be  called  to  the  ministry  without 
loving  Christ.  When  Christ  demanded  thrice  of  Saint  Pe- 
ter, "  Lovest  thou  me  ?"  and  thrice  said  to  him,  on  his  an- 
swering in  the  affirmative,  "  Feed  my  sheep,  feed  my  lambs," 
he  did  not  mean  to  signify  that  whoever  loved  him  ought  to 
be  employed  in  the  evangelical  ministry*  (Saint  Peter's  call, 
in  Christ's  view,  had  a  more  particular  ground)  ;  but  he  cer- 
tainly did  mean  to  say  that  no  one  ought  to  be  his  minister 
who  does  not  love  him.  "  We  ought,"  said  a  pastor  cited  by 
Burk,  "  to  subject  all  aspirants  to  the  ministry  to  the  same 
test  to  which  Saint  Peter  was  subjected,  and  ask  of  each  one 
of  them,  "Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  the  Lord  Jesus  ?"t 
This  appendix  to  a  confession  of  faith  would  certainly  not  be 
superfluous. 

Love  to  Christ  supposes  many  things.  It  supposes  inter- 
course with  Christ,  an  intimate  relationship  to  him.  He 
who  has  no  personal  reminiscences  of  Christ,  who  knows  him 
only  as  the  Savior  of  men,  not  as  his  own  Savior ;  as  the 
teacher  of  men,  not  as  his  teacher,  does  not  know  enough 
of  him,  and  should  not  begin  his  work  until  he  is  qualified 
for  it.  Faith,  in  order  to  become  sight,  must  be  exalted  as 
to  its  degree ;  and  thus  it  must  be  elevated  in  a  minister 
who  can  speak  from  experience.  This  personal  knowledge 
is  necessary  as  a  qualification  for  the  ministry,  and  as  a  means 
of  fulfilling  it  in  a  useful  manner. 

Reducing  the  idea  of  conversion  to  this  simple  and  touch- 

*  Sermon  de  Consecration.     By  M.  le  doyen  CUKTAT. 
t  BURK  :  Pastoraltheologie,  tome  i.,  p.  56. 


86  SIGNS    OF    A    TRUE    CALL. 

ing  notion,  love  to  Jesus  Christ,  we  can  fully  subscribe  to 
the  maxim  that,  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  exercise  the  min- 
istry we  must  be  converted  ;  and  we  cordially  unite  with 
the  writer  in  Herrnhutt's  Practical  Observations  in  the  fol- 
lowing remarks :  "  Though  the  Gospel,  apart  from  the  in- 
struments by  whom  it  is  presented  to. men,  is,  to  believers, 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  may  be  such,  of  course, 
by  means  of  the  writings  and  discourses  of  men  who  them- 
selves have  never  felt  this  power,  it  is  still  most  certain  that 
a  forcible  and  lively  exposition  of  the  Gospel,  and  especially 
its  application  to  the  wants  and  the  condition  of  individuals, 
which,  properly  speaking,  is  the  care  of  the  soul,  is  not  to  be 
expected  with  confidence,  except  from  one  who  has  felt  and 
who  continues  to  feel  the  power  of  the  Gospel.  This  expe- 
rience, then,  is  essential,  is  indispensably  requisite  to  a  truly 
evangelical  preacher.  No  one  can  well  show  to  others  the 
way  of  salvation  until  he  can  say  with  entire  truth,  "  I  be- 
lieved, therefore  have  I  spoken." — Ps.  cxvi.,  10. 

Thus,  then,  conversion,  or,  if  you  please,  love  to  Jesus  Christ, 
is,  as  an  element  in  vocation,  on  two  accounts  necessary  ; 
first,  as  a  seal,  which  legitimates  the  call ;  next,  as  a  means 
of  carefully  exercising  the  ministry,  or  a  condition,  without 
which  it  can  not  be  so  exercised. 

This  desire,  nevertheless,  which,  in  its  purity,  we  have 
made  essential  to  a  call,  and  which  we  have  affirmed  to  be 
the  first  sign  of  a  call,  does  not  suffice  without  fitness  ;  and 
as  there  is  a  way,  and  a  very  serious  one,  of  "  stealing  the 
words  of  God"  (Jer.,  xxiii.,  30),  namely,  by  taking  them  into 
one's  mouth  without  sincerity  and  without  love,  so  may  they, 
in  our  judgment,  be  stolen,  by  undertaking  the  ministry  of 
the  word  without  possessing,  in  some  measure,  certain  apti- 
tudes for  it. 

Some  of  these  are  physical,  as  the  voice  and  the  health. 
This  latter  may  be  delicate,  and  may  give  rise  to  questions 
which  are  to  be  resolved  in  casu  rather  than  in  specie.  It 


PHYSICAL    APTITUDES.  87 

is  needless  to  inquire  whether,  with  health  too  feehle  to  sus- 
tain the  fatigues  of  the  ministry,  one  may  decline  a  weight 
which  would  crush  him.  This  is  so  evident,  that  even  if  he 
exaggerated  the  weakness  of  his  constitution,  he  should  be 
permitted  to  withdraw  ;  for  this  exaggeration  would  indicate 
the  absence  of  a  desire  to  exercise  the  ministry,  and  where 
this  desire  is  wanting  there  is  no  call.  To  disregard  this  iri- 
dication  or  this  objection  would  imply  that  all  Christians  are 
under  obligation  to  enter  into  the  ministry,  and  we  should 
thus  blot  out  even  the  institution  of  a  special  ministry.  Rath- 
er should  we  question,  if  one  manifestly  in  such  a  state  of 
health  should  yield  to  desire,  and  undertake  a  ministry  which 
in  a  short  time  would  terminate  his  life.  I  would  apply  to 
a  minister,  as  a  general  rule,  the  advice  given  to  poets  : 
"  Sumite  materiam  vestris,  qui  pascitis,  cequam  viribus."* 
Be  useful  in  a  sphere  somewhat  different,  and  simply  as 
Christians,  as  long  and  as  much  as  you  can,  instead  of  ob- 
liging yourselves  to  pursue  a  course  of  labor  in  which  you 
would  be  constantly  impeded  by  bodily  weakness.  This  rule, 
however,  may,  I  admit,  be  modified  by  circumstances,  which 
should  be  always  well  considered.  There  are  times  and  places 
in  which  this  sacrifice,  which  can  never  be  commanded,  may 
be  approved  and  admired.  Although  I  do  not  believe  in 
works  of  supererogation,  or  think  that  we  may  do  too  much, 
and  that  God  may  be  restricted  in  his  requirements  from  us, 
yet  I  hold  that  there  is  not  only  a  difference  between  unbe- 
lief and  faith,  but  that  there  are  degrees  in  faith,  and  that  of 
two  true  Christians,  one  may  have  more  or  less  zeal  or  love 
than  the  other.  It  may  be  well  to  be  rash,  and  imprudence, 

*  HORACE  says  (Art  of  Poetry,  v.  38),  "  Writers,  choose  a  subject 
to  which  your  strength  is  equal." 

Samite  materiam  vestris,  qui  scribitis,  a-quam,  viribus. 

By  substituting  the  word  pascitis  for  scribitis,  M.  Vinet  makes  this 
verse  an  advice  to  those  who  would  feed  souls,  to  inquire  whether 
they  are  fitted  for  this  work. — Ed. 


88  INTELLECTUAL    APTITUDES. 

or  what  men  call  by  that  name,  is  very  often  true  prudence. 
Circumstances,  in  short,  may  create  duties,  which  in  other 
circumstances  would  not  have  existed. 

As  to  intellect'ual  aptitudes,  they  comprise  talents  and  ac- 
quirements. What  these  should  embrace,  or  how  far  they 
should  extend,  it  would  be  improper  here  to  define.  Besides, 
there  is  more  than  one  sort  of  ministry  ;  or,  rather,  the  minis- 
try is  not  always  exercised  in  the  same  circumstances.  Al- 
though instruction  and  knowledge  can  never  be  superfluous, 
one  may,  in  certain  situations,  exercise  a  very  useful  ministry 
without  much  knowledge.  Still,  certain  measures  of  knowl- 
edge, certain  talents,  are  always  necessary,  arid  perhaps  in 
a  higher  degree,  where  science,  in  the  strict  sense,  is  wanting. 
Absolutely  speaking,  zeal  without  science  (without  any  true 
mental  discipline)  creates  only  phantoms,  and  makes  converts 
only  to  fanaticism.  "  Add  to  your  faith  knowledge"  (2  Pet., 
i.,  5)  :  Knowledge,  and  not  talent  only  ;  for  talents  without 
knowledge  make  us  presumptuous  and  imprudent,  and  dis- 
cover to  us  obstacles  only  by  bringing  us  into  collision  with 
them.  The  first  good  effect  of  knowledge  is  to  teach  us  our 
ignorance,  to  make  our  darkness  visible.  In  general,  the 
ministry  ought  to  have  all  the  knowledge  which  may  be  nec- 
essary to  defend  religion  against  its  adversaries  ;  to  edify,  to 
instruct,  to  render  their  teachings  as  useful  as  possible.  It  is 
always  desirable  that  a  minister  should  be  a  sound  teacher, 
should  be  doctrinally  acquainted  with  religion,  should  know 
the  world,  and  especially  should  know  human  nature.  The 
idea  is  a  most  unhappy  one,  that  pastors  have  no  need  of 
much  knowledge.  They  ought,  as  to  acquirements,  to  be  at 
least  equal  to  any  oppositions  which  they  may  have  to  en- 
counter. Still,  we  must  avoid  that  frivolous  knowledge  which 
is  pursued  with  a  view  to  no  end  ulterior  to  itself. 

The  power  of  acquiring  knowledge  depends  on  talents. 
These  are  necessary  as  a  means  both  of  acquiring  knowledge 
and  of  power  in  the  application  of  it,  in  the  pulpit  and  the 


INTELLECTUAL  APTITUDES.  89 

ministry.  But  the  ministry  does  not  require  extraordinary 
talents  ;  piety,  to  a  certain  degree,  takes  the  place  of  them. 
Piety  is  a  great  talent.  Not  more,  perhaps  less  talent  is 
necessary  to  be  a  good  minister  than  to  be  a  good  judge,  a 
good  advocate,  a  good  physician,  &c.  That  which  is  neces- 
sary should  not  be  rare.  What  all  to  some  extent  ought  to  be, 
many  should  be  able  to  carry  to  some  degree  of  perfection. 

As  the  ministry  does  not  generally  require  very  great  tal- 
ents, neither  does  it  require  very  special  ones.  One  may  be 
an  excellent  minister  with  talents  which  in  every  other  pro- 
fession would  succeed  but  passably.  Fitness  for  the  ministry 
is  not  a  particular  and  exceptional  fitness.  In  general,  there 
are  fewer  than  we  think  of  those  imperative  calls  of  which 
we  like  so  well  to  speak,  and  it  is  a  kindness  of  Providence 
that  there  are  so  few. 

Finally,  if  piety  may  to  a  certain  extent  supply  talent, 
talent  can  not  supply  piety,  and  the  most  special  talent  (elo- 
quence, knowledge  of  the  heart,  ingenuity,  government  of 
minds)  will  not  constitute  a  call.  A  man  may  be  eminently 
suited  to  describe  a  minister  without  being  called  to  be  one. 
Neither  can  talent  take  the  place  of  instruction.  There  is 
no  hope  more  treacherous  than  that  which  a  man  has  from 
the  consciousness  of  talent.  No  one  may  fail  sooner,  if  his 
talent  do  not  rest  upon  a  just  foundation.  Many  distin- 
guished talents  are  lost,  while  moderate  talents  arrive,  by 
labor,  at  results  which  appear  reserved  only  for  genius.  Tal- 
ent, like  labor,  can  only  inspire  a  relative  and  subordinate 
confidence.  Both,  though  necessary,  do  not  in  any  way  sup- 
ply the  essential  condition.  They  do  not  of  themselves  con- 
fer a  mission.  It  is  an  armor  which  only  injures  us,  if  God 
himself  have  not  put  it  on  us.  It  is  necessary  that  God 
should  speak  to  our  heart.  "He  alone,"  said  J.  Newton, 
"  who  created  the  world  can  make  a  minister  of  the  Gospel." 
This  is  true,  not  only  because  he  alone  gives  the  talents  and 
the  acquisitions,  but  especially  because  there  is  something 


90  INTELLECTUAL    APTITUDES. 

more  profound,  which  he  alone  can  give.  It  is  the  right 
neither  of  the  greatest  talent,  nor  the  greatest  labor,  nor 
the  most  extended  science,  to  "  steal"  this  mission.  There 
is  more  than  one  kind  of  simony.  A  man  makes  himself 
guilty  of  simony  when  he  would  buy  the  ministry  as  a  venal 
thing,  at  the  price  of  talent  or  of  labor.  This  price  pays 
very  well  for  every  other  business  ;  it  pays  very  badly,  for  it 
"steals,"  the  ministry  ;  and  for  one  who  has  thus  usurped  it, 
the  anathema  of  Peter  is  ready :  "  Thy  talent  perish  with 
thee,  because  thou  hast  thought  to  purchase  the  gift  of  God 
with  talent." — Acts,  viii.,  20. 

"  The  error  of  Simon  Magus,"  says  Bishop  Saunderson,* 
"  was  that  he  thought  the  gift  of  God  might  be  obtained  for 
the  price  of  money.  It  is  another  error  to  think  that  it  may 
be  obtained  by  labor.  In  vain  will  you  rise  in  the  morning, 
go  late  to  bed,  study  hard,  read  much,  devour  the  marrow  of 
the  best  authors ;  if  God  do  not  add  his  blessing  to  your  en- 
terprise, you  will  not  be  less  lean  and  meagre  in  respect  of 
knowledge,  I  mean  true  and  useful  knowledge,  than  the  kine 
of  Pharaoh  were  lean  after  having  eaten  the  fat  ones.  It  is 
God  who  gives  the  harvest  to  the  sower,  and  it  is  God,  also, 
who  multiplies  the  harvest :  the  beginning  and  the  increase 
come  from  him." 

All  that  we  have  now  said  is  an  admonition  against  as- 
suming talent  as  sufficient,  but  in  no  way  does  it  tend  to  ex- 
clude it.  There  is,  however,  a  certain  measure  and  a  cer- 
tain sort  of  talent,  of  which  the  absence  is  almost  incompat- 
ible with  the  exercise  of  the  ministry,  and  to  the  feeble  it 
may  perhaps  be  the  occasion  of  scandal.  Not  only  are  we 
excused  from  the  ministry,  we  are  not  authorized  to  assume 
it  when  an  absolute  want  of  memory,  or  of  facility  in  speak- 
ing, or  of  presence  of  mind,  does  not  allow  us  to  fulfill  in  a  suit- 
able and  edifying  manner  the  ordinary  duties  of  this  office. 

Sometimes  the  measure  or  the  kind  of  talents  which  a  man 

*  Cited  by  BRIDGES,  The  Christian  Ministry,  p.  39,  40,  in  a  note. 


MORAL    APTITUDES.  91 

has  received  from  God  may  suffice  for  some  other  profession, 
in  which  he  may  zealously  work  to  the  glory  of  God.  Why 
should  one  who  has  talents  for  government  wish  to  be  only 
a  minister  ?  It  is  a  sad  error  to  think  that  one  manner  of 
serving  God  will  please  him  more  than  another,  when  we 
are  not  fit  for  it ;  and  the  idea  of  heing  attached  more  di- 
rectly, as  it  is  said,  to  the  propagation  of  his  kingdom  appears 
to  me  to  have  already  done  harm  enough.  Our  views  of  the 
universal  ministry,  or  of  the  call  to  all  to  perform,  in  their 
respective  positions,  the  function  of  ministers,  offer  compensa- 
tion and  comfort  sufficient  to  those  to  whom  the  weakness  of 
their  talents  denies  the  exercise  of  a  special  ministry.  One 
class,  especially,  have  cause  to  fear  this  illusion,  and  the  more 
so  in  certain  seasons.  The  class  I  refer  to  is  that  of  men  un- 
educated in  youth,  and  the  seasons  I  have  in  view  are  those 
of  much  religious  interest.  With  these  persons  the  care  of 
souls  is  every  thing ;  with  others  nothing  is  thought  of  but 
preaching.  The  whole  work  is  to  be  kept  in  view. 

Among  the  number  of  aptitudes,  we  may  reckon  the  nat- 
ural character,  which  is  not  to  be  effaced  by  principles,  nor 
even  by  a  religious  change,  though,  to  a  certain  extent,  af- 
fected by  the  influence  of  Christianity.  It  is  in  some  points 
so  closely  connected  with  temperament,  that  it  yields  to  prin- 
ciples and  convictions  scarcely  more  than  temperament.  Ti- 
midity, irresolution,  fickleness,  may  abide  in  conversion,  and 
remain  to  such  a  degree  that  the  ministry  may  be  obstructed 
by  them,  or  may  fail  to  secure  that  respect  by  which  it  ought 
to  be  attended.  We  should  carefully  consider  this  matter. 

It  has  been  asked  whether  past  sins  may  not  annul  a  call, 
otherwise  complete,  and  as  well  substantiated  as  possible. 
The  question  does  not  relate  to  every  kind  of  sin;  it  would 
imply,  if  it  did,  that  none  are  worthy  of  the  priesthood.  It 
has  respect  to  sins  of  a  gross  character,  both  as  to  nature  and 
form  ;  aberrations  of  conduct — faults  which,  if  known,  would 
compromise  our  reputation  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  ;  not  only 


92  DO    PAST    SINS 

sins,  but  serious  faults,  even  in  the  view  of  natural  men 
Have  we,  with  or  without  the  knowledge  of  the  flock,  com 
mitted  such  faults ;  and  may  they  destroy  a  call  otherwise 
well  founded  ? 

It  is  interesting  to  know  the  manner  of  thinking  on  this 
point  among  the  Catholics.  Catholicism,  which  petrifies 
truths  by  depriving  them  of  their  fluidity,  secures  them,  in 
doing  so,  a  durable  existence.  That  petrifaction  preserves  for 
ages  the  form  of  the  thing.  It  is  a  dearly-purchased  benefit 
of  Catholicism.  A  religion  in  which  the  external  form  is  not 
so  unchangeable  has  an  advantage,  but  by  the  side  of  it  there 
is  a  danger.  It  may  have  phases  in  which  the  change  of 
form  affects  the  foundation ;  in  which  case  the  truth  is  lost. 
It  is  hence  important  to  study  Catholicism. 

By  certain  Catholic  doctors,  perhaps  by  Catholicism  itself, 
the  question  has  been  resolved  by  an  exaggeration.  Massil- 
lon  excludes  from  the  ministry  those  who  have  been  given 
up  to  sins  which  have  acquired  over  them  the  power  of  hab- 
it. "  Mourn,"  he  says,  "  for  your  crimes  in  the  position  of  a 
common  believer — that  is  your  place  ;  but  do  not,  by  receiv- 
ing a  sacred  character,  put  a  seal  upon  all  your  iniquities  : 
do  not  defile  the  sanctuary,  and  add  not  the  profanation  of  a 
holy  place  to  that  of  your  soul.  You  may  repent,  return  to 
God,  move  his  mercy,  and  save  yourselves  among  penitent 
believers  ;  you  would  die  hardened  and  impenitent  should 
you  become  priests.  It  may  be  that  this  rule  has  had  some 
exceptions— that  a  great  sinner,  after  being  purified  by  a  long 
life  of  mortification,  may  become  a  holy  priest ;  but  when  an 
exception  to  a  rule  is  concerned,  the  utility  of  the  infraction 
must  compensate  for  the  inconveniences.  Now  it  is  yours  to 
say  what  great  advantages  the  Church  may  promise  itself 
from  your  promotion  to  the  priesthood.  For  my  part,  all  that 
I  can  say  to  you  is  this,  if  faith  still  remains  to  you,  it  can 
not  but  seem  terrible  to  you  to  enter  into  a  state  of  which  the 
general  rule  declares  you  unworthy,  and  in  which  we  must 


ANNUL   VOCATION  ?  93 

have  recourse  to  a  solitary  exception,  to  a  rare,  singular  case, 
to  one  of  those  prodigies  of  which  a  century  scarcely  furnishes 
an  example,  if  you  are  not  to  be  a  profaner  and  an  intruder."* 

This  rigor  may  seem  inconsistent  with  other  Catholic 
views,  which  tend  to  make  the  personality  of  the  pastor  too 
insignificant  an  element.  But  there  is  no  contradiction — 
there  is  agreement.  The  priest,  a  neuter  substance,  from 
whom  the  Spirit  has  retired,  ought,  at  least  as  a  victim  led 
to  the  altar,  to  present  no  spot  externally ;  and  it  is  of  these 
external  defilements  that  there  is  a  question  in  the  passage 
from  Massillon.  Besides,  in  the  case  he  supposes,  when  the 
obstinacy  of  the  disorder  has  effaced  from  the  soul  all  feel- 
ings of  modesty  and  virtue — when  the  habitude  of  crime  has 
put  into  it  a  disgust  for  heavenly  things,  it  is  very  evident  that 
one  should  be  excluded  from  the  ministry  ;  for  he  can  not 
have  a  call  to  it.  But  this  is  not  the  question.  It  relates  to 
our  knowing  whether,  in  respect  to  a  true  call,  the  memory 
of  grave  faults  should  exclude  us  from  the  ministry.  Besides, 
it  is  not  here  a  question  of  general,  universal  sin,  but  of  great 
and  deep  iniquities — of  faults  against  honor  and  morals. 

I  respect  conscience,  and  in  certain  cases  I  may  approve 
the  motives  of  him  whom  the  memory  of  old  sins  restrains 
from  the  ministry,"  whether  the  public  partakes  with  him  in 
these  painful  remembrances,  or  whether  he  has  confided  them 
to  no  one. 

In  the  first  case,  there  is  a  fear  on  the  one  side  that  the 
public — I  mean  the  mass  of  the  flock — will  oppose  to  the 
exhortations  of  the  pastor,  and  to  his  reprimands,  the  image, 
always  vivid,  always  ready  to  revive,  of  his  ancient  disorders, 
even  when  excess  of  virtue  and  devotedness  have  disallow- 
ed and  effaced  them.f  And  on  the  other  side,  the  thought 
that  the  public  knows  them  may  intimidate  the  preacher, 

*  MASSILLON  :  Discours  sur  la  Vocation  a  Velat  Ecdesiastique. 
t  According  to  the  rule  of  the  Church,  public  penitence  is  incom- 
patible with  the  priesthood.— (ST.  CYRAN,  Pensees  sur  le  Sacerdoce. 


94  DO    PAST   SINS 

and  entirely  take  away  from  him  that  holy  boldness,  without 
which  he  can  not  usefully  exercise  the  ministry.  Massillon 
lays  down  a  principle,  that  we  must  not  impose  ourselves  on 
a  people  who  will  not  accept  us.*  This  is  true ;  and  if  it  be 
true  that,  although  ecclesiastical  authority,  which,  however, 
is  supposed  to  be  delegated  by  the  people,  will  admit  us,  the 
people  or  the  public,  on  account  of  our  known  faults,  will  not 
admit  us,  if  we  have  the  feeling  that  they  do  not  admit  us 
with  good-will,  we  must  wait  to  be  reinstated  among  them, 
or  seek  a  ministry  far  from  places  where  the  remembrance 
of  our  faults  will  envelop  and  smother  us.  It  is  easy  here  to 
draw  a  conclusion  as  to  the  young  Levite  who  is  exposed  by 
his  very  youth,  that  his  youth  will  not  be  sufficiently  respect- 
ed.— 1  Tim.,  iv.,  12.  If  his  youth  has  been  not  at  all  scan- 
dalous, but  too  noisy,  too  little  serious,  even  that  is  an  evil. 
It  is  necessary  not  only  that  the  candidate  should  be  exempt 
from  those  faults  which  society  will  not  pardon,  but  more, 
that  from  the  moment  in  which  his  life  belongs  to  the  public, 
he  should  be  surrounded  with  an  atmosphere  of  sanctity,  of 
seriousness,  of  innocence  in  morals  and  manners. 

In  the  second  case,  the  memory  of  his  sins  pursuing  the 
minister  even  into  the  pulpit,  and  overwhelming  him,  per- 
haps the  more  that  he  has  not  made  reparation  for  them  by 
means  of  a  public  avowal,  may  cause  him  extreme  difficulty 
and  trouble.  It  is  not  certain  that  God  intends  in  all  cases, 
in  taking  away  the  guilt  of  sin,  to  take  away  also  the  weight  of 
its  remembrance.  Perhaps  this  hard  discipline  he  imposes  on 
certain  persons  who  have  need  to  be  held,  even  to  the  end,  in 
humiliation  and  in  terror.  Perhaps  such  a  man  will  feel  that 
it  is  not  for  him,  polluted  as  he  is,  to  exercise  a  ministry  of 
which  even  angels  are  not  worthy ;  perhaps  his  respect  for 
the  ministry  will  hold  him  aloof  from  the  ministry  ;  and  if  it 
should  be  so  with  him,  I  should  not  dare  to  oppose  these  scru- 

*  MxssiLtON:  Discours  sur  la  Vocation  a  Vetat  Ecclesiastique.  "The 
suffrage  of  the  people  is  the  second  mark  of  a  canonical  vocation,"  &c. 


ANNUL    VOCATION  ?  95 

pies ;  I  should  not  dare  to  advise  their  suppression,  unless  ] 
should  see  a  germ  of  self-righteousness,  and  discover  in  the 
individual's  sense  of  un worthiness  the  idea  of  man's  worthiness 
in  general. 

This  painful  sacrifice  might  be  blessed,  and  if  I  saw  that  it 
was  made  from  the  proper  principle,  I  should  hope  that  this 
man  has  renounced  the  ministry  only  to  exercise  it  under  an- 
other more  humble,  more  simple  form  ;  that  he  will  preach 
the  Gospel  at  the  foot  of  the  pulpit  as  he  would  have  done 
higher  up ;  that  he  has  denied  himself  the  official  priesthood 
to  exercise  another,  and  that  he  will  do  by  a  good  example 
(which  he  is  the  more  required  to  give,  because  he  has  given 
a  bad  one)  what  he  would  not  venture  to  do  by  his  words. 

It  is  difficult,  in  cases  like  these,  to  interpose  between  a 
man  and  his  conscience.  The  question  must  be  settled  be- 
tween them  :  At  least  we  must  enter  only  as  we  are  invited  ; 
we  must  use  precaution,  and  not  force  any  thing.  But  while 
it  is  difficult  to  solve  particular  cases  of  this  kind,  it  is  less 
so  to  lay  down  a  general  principle  according  to  which  they 
should  be  solved,  and  which  each  one  may  apply  to  himself 
as  it  may  suit  him.  The  principle  is  this  :  It  is  not,  we 
would  say  in  each  case,  it  is  not  what  you  have  been,  but 
what  you  are,  that  is  to  be  considered.  If  it  were  absolute- 
ly unlawful  for  you  to  enter  into  the  ministry  on  account  of 
the  sins  of  your  youth,  no  one  could  exercise  it ;  for  all  have 
sinned,  all  have  been  dead  (Eph.,  xi.,  1),  and  in  death  there 
are  no  degrees.  If  these  sins,  after  you  have  abjured  and 
utterly  renounced  them,  render  you  unfit  for  the  ministry, 
they  also  render  you  unfit  for  heaven.  To  preach  the  Di- 
vine forgiveness,  you  must  have  believed  in  it,  you  must  have 
received  and  accepted  it ;  and  if  you  have  accepted  it,  you 
are,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  Gospel,  as  if  you  had  never 
sinned.  Between  you  and  others  there  is  no  difference  ;  since 
"  all  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God." — 
Rom.,  iii.,  23.  As  you  believe,  then,  in  the  Divine  forgive- 


96  DO    PAST    SINS 

ness,  you  have,  neither  more  nor  less  than  any  other  man,  a 
right  to  preach  the  Gospel.  Has  not  that  grace  which  has 
cleansed  you  as  a  man  cleansed  you  also  as  a  minister  ? 
We  can  not  disown  these  truths  without  disowning  with  them 
the  elements  of  the  Gospel,  which  make  no  difference  be- 
tween the  laborer  of  the  first  and  the  laborer  of  the  eleventh 
hour,  the  publican  and  the  strict  pharisee,  the  prodigal  son 
and  his  elder  brother,  who  by  supposition  remained  always 
with  his  father.  In  the  work  of  grace,  which  is  a  new  cre- 
ation, the  things  which  are  past  are  no  more  remembered. — 
Is.,  bcv.,  17.  The  new  man's  relations  toward  God  date 
from  his  renovation ;  what  he  now  is  effaces  what  he  has 
been,  though  what  he  now  does  can  not  efface  what  he  has 
done.  "What  greater  change  can  a  man  experience,"  says 
St.  Cyran,  "  than  from  a  child  of  Adam  to  become  a  child  of 
God  ?  We  may  say  it  is  a  less  change  to  pass  from  nothing 
to  a  mortal  man,  than  from  being  a  mortal  man  to  become  a 
child  of  God."* 

This  is  the  truth,  in  its  abstract  and  absolute  form.  It  is 
not  affirming  that,  because  God's  mercy  takes  no  account  of 
our  former  conduct,  we  ourselves  should  take  no  account  of 
it ;  nor  that  those  should  not  who  may  have  to  decide  con- 
cerning our  call  to  the  functions  of  the  ministry.  It  is  not 
enough  that  repentance  separates  our  past  conduct  from  our 
new  life  ;  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  test  of  suffi- 
cient devotion  to  assure  others  and  ourselves  that  the  pois- 
onous germ  is  dead,  and  the  man  is  no  longer  the  same  one 
that  sinned  and  gave  cause  for  scandal.  Thus  past  sins  will 
present  no  obstacle  to  our  entering  into  the  holy  tribe  ;  it 
may  even  be  that  those  sins  which  we  deplore,  and  because 
we  deplore  them,  may  impart  to  us  a  prudence,  a  seriousness, 
a  force,  and  a  compassion,  which  do  not  always  belong  tc 
those  whose  lives  have  been  passed  in  comparative  inno- 
cence. 

-.  *  SAINT  CYRAN  :  Penstes  sur  le  Sacerdoce. 


• 

ANNUL    VOCATION?  97 

On  this  subject,  the  Abbe  de  St.  Cyran  has  a  thought  which 
deserves  attention  :  "  I  do  not  fear  to  introduce  into  the  priest- 
hood, on  urgent  occasions,  a  man  who  has  repented  of  his 
public  or  known  sins,  though  they  may  have  been  gross  and 
against  the  Decalogue,  provided  I  find  two  qualities  in  him. 
One  of  them  is  firmness  of  mind  (something  beyond  mere 
good  sense),  which,  with  the  aid  of  Divine  grace,  may  be  of 
much  avail  to  him  in  resisting  his  other  sins,  and  also  the 
temptations  arising  from  the  exercise  of  the  priesthood.  The 
other  is  an  entire  freedom  from  cupidity,  whether  as  to  wealth 
or  as  to  honor  and  praise.  For,  not  unfrequently,  a  man  loses 
his  innocence  by  only  one  kind  of  mortal  sin,  springing  from 
strong  inclination  and  favored  by  the  ardor  of  age  ;  and  a 
passing  occasion  may  prevail  against  a  nature  good  in  every 
other  respect,  and  endowed  in  body  and  mind  with  many  ac- 
quired and  gracious  qualities.  This  sometimes  is  enough  to 
displace  every  fear  of  making  a  man  a  priest,  supposing  him 
to  be  truly  penitent,  and  that  he  has  passed  some  years  with- 
out falling  again,  and  in  striving  perpetually  to  cure  his  sin- 
ful habits.  We  may  have  more  assurance  in  this  case,  if, 
while  living  in  a  city,  he  foregoes  intercourse  with  persons 
not  easy  to  be  avoided,  such  as  relations,  friends,  and  others 
whom  it  is  difficult  to  keep  at  a  distance  from  us  in  cities. 
Of  those  who  have  fallen  from  innocence,  some  have  more 
strength  and  resolution  than  others  who  have  never  fallen."* 

Hay  doubts  annul  a  call  ? 

We  reply,  1st.  That  there  would  be  few  ligitimate  calls 
if  doubt  might  annul  them. 

2d.  That  there  would  be  few  Christians  even  on  this  sup- 

*  SAINT  CYRAN  :  Lettre  d  M.  Guillebert  sur  le  Sacerdoce,  chap,  xviii. 
"  God  himself  has  chosen  as  ministers  men  who  had  grievously  sin- 
ned ;  and  many  holy  bishops  and  pastors  of  whom  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory speaks,  had  been  exceedingly  dissipated  men."  —  Augustin, 
Ranfi 

E 


98  DOUBTS    AND    INCLINATIONS 

position  ;  for,  though  it  is  possible  to  be  in  a  state  where  all 
is  light,  they  who  never  doubt  are  graceless  beings. 

3d.  That  the  study,  the  life,  the  exercise  of  the  ministry, 
will  raise  new  doubts. 

The  question  to  be  settled  is,  Do  we  believe  ?  Is  Christian- 
ity a  reality  with  us  ?  Are  we  able  to  give  a  reason  for  our 
faith  to  ourselves  and  others  ?  Have  we  that  experience  of 
the  truth,  that  inward  certitude  which,  without  resolving 
doubts,  sweeps  them  away  ? 

But  it  is  objected — can  a  man  who  is  sent  to  remove  the 
doubts  of  others  doubt  himself?  Not  absolutely.  But  we 
are  not  now  speaking  of  skeptical  or  unbelieving  ministers, 
but  of  a  man  who  is  not  clear  on  all  points,  and  who  some- 
times must  know  it. 

May  certain  inclinations  annul  a  call  ? 

The  inclinations  which  we  have  in  view  are  like  the  doubts 
of  tbe  soul,  and  the  difficulty  is  resolved  on  the  same  princi- 
ples. 

We  do  not  speak  of  tastes,  innocent  in  themselves,  but  which 
a  pastor  can  not  indulge.  These  do  annul  the  call,  if  the  call 
do  not  annul  or  overcome  them. 

We  refer  to  evil  inclinations — inclinations  which  are  as  in- 
compatible with  the  Christian  profession  as  they  are  with  the 
ministry.  As  a  minister,  in  yielding  to  them,  is  more  culpa- 
ble, and  will  do  greater  harm  than  a  simple  Christian,  the 
question  presents  itself,  Should  he  not  begin  to  conquer  them 
as  a  man  1  If  he  say  that  he  can  do  so  better  as  a  minister, 
this  would  be  playing  high  game,  doubling  the  difficulty  in 
order  to  surmount  it.  If  the  Church  is  an  hospital,  ministers 
are  not  the  sick,  but  the  overseers  of  them.  They  ought  to 
enter  it  in  a  good  state  of  health.  They  may  doubtless  do 
themselves  good  here,  but  there  is  something  repulsive  in  this 
calculation.  There  is  danger,  however,  that,  instead  of  be- 
ing purified  by  the  ministry,  a  stain  will  be  brought  upon  it. 


IN    CONNECTION    WITH    VOCATION.  99 

I  regard  ascesc,*  or  spiritual  exercise,  as  an  important 
preparation  for  the  ministry.  I  mean  by  this  not  the  arbi- 
trary exercises  of  certain  Christians  and  certain  sectaries,  but 
a  system  of  moral  life,  resting  on  Christian  principle,  but  acted 
on  in  anticipation  of  the  ministry  afterward  to  be  exercised. 
We  may  suppose  ourselves  in  the  most  difficult  position,  and 
live  as  if  we  were  there.  Doubtless  there  will  be  many  dif- 
ferences. What  is  a  privation  to  one  is  not  to  another  ;  so 
that  we  can  not  enter  into  details.  Our  concern  is,  by  the 
aid  of  Divine  grace,  to  become  masters  of  ourselves.  This  is 
the  essential  point. 

Most  manifestly  are  these  questions  referred,  for  decision, 
directly  and  definitively  to  ourselves.  And  on  the  whole,  no 
man,  nor  body  of  men,  can  know  with  entire  certainty  that 
we  are  called  ;  as,  on  the  other  hand,  they  can  not  in  every 
case  declare  with  certainty  that  we  are  not  called.  In  short, 
there  are  times  and  places  in  which  a  man  can  not  be  sent, 
except  by  himself,  and  in  which  he  who  ought  to  be  called 
is  the  last  that  would  be  called.  A  case  of  this  kind  is  that 
in  which  one  sets  himself  in  opposition  to  a  general  error. 
Pastoral  order  should  always  be  maintained  ;  but  the  Church, 
in  certain  times,  is  the  offspring  of  the  pastor,  as  in  ordinary 
times  the  pastor  proceeds  from  the  Church.  In  general,  how- 
ever, an  external  call,  which  is  riot  necessary  in  right,  or,  in 
an  absolute  sense,  is  necessary  in  fact:  It  is  so, 

1.  To  the  minister  himself,  who,  though  the  sole  judge  of 
his  own  intentions,  is  judge  of  nothing  more  ;  and  on  his  own 
account  needs  a  testimonial  from  others  as  to  his  tact,  talent, 


s.  —  M.  Vinet  lias  adopted  this  word,  which  the  Germans 
before  him  (christliche  Ascese)  had  introduced  into  theological  lan- 
guage. It  is  borrowed  from  the  Greek,  as  formerly  were  borrowed 
ascete,  asceticisme,  and  ascetique.  —  Edit.  The  French  word  has 
been  retained,  as  there  is  no  English  word  corresponding  to  it.  — 
Trnnsl. 


100      IMPORTANCE  OF  EXTERNAL  VOCATION. 

and  knowledge.  It  is  very  true  that,  even  when  we  are 
called  by  a  Church,  we  may  think  we  are  not  called  ;  but  if  a 
Church  does  not  call  us  when  we  think  we  have  been  called, 
there  is  then  room  for  doubt  as  to  our  call.  It  is  the  duty 
of  every  man,  even  though  drawn  to  the  ministry  by  very 
lively  convictions,  to  doubt  his  call  when  he  sees  that  he  is 
unacceptable.  There  should,  at  least,  be  delay  before  we  re- 
fuse to  submit  to  the  scientific  and  ecclesiastical  authority 
which  resists  us.  Neither  can  we  understand  well  the  un- 
dertaking beforehand  ;  and,  in  respect  to  its  nature,  its  extent, 
its  difficulties,  its  true  character,  we  should  rest  upon  testi- 
monials which  may  well,  in  this  case,  be  called  auttwrity. 
They  who  are  acquainted  with  the  work  have  a  means  of 
knowing,  which  we  have  not,  whether  we  are  qualified  for  it. 

2.  To  the  flock.  Unless,  from  particular  circumstances, 
the  flock  are  able,  and  in  a  condition  to  judge  of  the  capacity 
and  worthiness  of  the  minister  who  presents  himself,  they  will 
always  ask  :  "  Whence  do  you  come?  Are  you  he  that  should 
come  ?"  Wherever  there  is  a  Church,  it  will  provide  an  es- 
tablished rule,  according  to  which  those  are  to  be  judged  who 
pretend  to  pastoral  functions,  and  an  institution  which  forms 
and  selects  them.  This  is  but  a  moral  security,  but  it  is  the 
only  one  which  is  possible.  And  in  the  Romish  Church, 
though  they  have  greater  pretensions,  have  they  essentially 
any  thing  more  ? 

As  regards  the  minister's  personal  satisfaction  as  to  his 
call,  the  external  call  is  equivalent  to  a  consultation.  But 
this  consultation,  it  should  be  said,  is  very  imperfect,  and  will 
always  be  so,  compared  with  that  which  we  may  hold,  no 
longer  with  a  collective  body  of  men,  but  at  our  own  request, 
with  tried  friends  and  our  brethren  in  the  faith.  A  collect- 
ive authority  can  not  judge  of  inward  sentiments,  of  the  real- 
ity of  faith,  of  the  degree  to  which  imagination  may  have 
place.  A  friend  can  do  this  much  better.  Let  him  be  con- 
sulted, then,  but  with  entire  sincerity,  without  any  mental  re 


MEANS    OF    ASSURANCE.  101 

serve.     We  of  .en  think  we  have  said  every  thing,  when  the 
important  word  remains  unuttered. 

I  should  also  have  indicated  exercise*  as  a  means  of  assur- 
ance, if  it  were  generally  possible  for  a  man  to  exercise  him- 
self sufficiently  before  consecration  ;  that  is  to  say,  in  a  man- 
ner which  shows  well  the  nature  of  the  work  to  which,  as  a 
.niuister,  he  is  to  be  devoted.  Without  attaching  too  much 
importance  to  this  means,  I  think  it  would  be  well,  within 
the  limits  of  prudence  and  modesty,  and  under  a  wise  direc- 
tion, to  make  trial  of  some  of  the  labors  of  the  ministry.  It 
would  tend  to  give  seriousness  to  the  life  of  a  student,  pro- 
vided these  exercises  be  in  their  own  nature  serious ;  and 
would  throw  in  advance  the  light  of  practice  on  theory.  Thus 
young  physicians  not  only  read  and  attend  lectures,  but  visit 
the  sick.  Let  young  ministers  do  likewise.  There  is  a  clinique 
also  of  the  ministry.  The  departments  of  theology  and  of  the 
ministry  present  but  too  many  theorists  who  have  not  been 
instructed  by  practice,  and  but  too  many  practitioners  who 
care  nothing  for  theory.  Bengel  advises  young  theologians 
who  have  finished  their  studies  to  go  into  the  country  for  a 
year,  and  there  exercise  the  ministry,  and  then  to  pass  some 
time  at  a  new  university.  Without  making  this  a  rule,  it  is 
an  excellent  precept. 

In  general,  a  serious  and  well-directed  young  man  would 
do  well,  at  the  outset  of  his  theological  studies,  to  take  his 
resolution  intelligently,  and  at  the  end  of  a  year's  study  he 
may  find  his  call  confirmed  or  annulled.  At  the  end  of  this 
period  let  him  put  the  question  to  himself  again,  or  let  it  be 
put  to  him.  If  he  has  no  call,  he  may  then  know  it.  He 
can  not  beforehand  so  well  assure  himself  that  he  truly  has 
a  call ;  but  his  impressions  may  determine  him  to  begin  his 
studies.  Let  him  have  the  courage,  if  he  find  that  he  has 
obeyed  an  imaginary  call,  to  retrace  his  steps,  however  late 
it  may  be. 

*  Preliminary  practice. — Transl. 


102  DANGER    OF    ILLUSIONS. 

A  young  man  should  have  regard  to  the  wishes  of  parents, 
who  may  prefer  this  office,  and  often  see  in  it  the  door  of 
safety  for  their  child ;  but  let  his  parents  and  himself  well 
understand  that  it  is  not  absolutely  the  place  of  safety,  that 
the  ministry  in  itself  alone  does  not  secure  ministers,  and  that 
to  enter  into  this  profession  with  a  call  to  a  very  different 
one  may  one  day  result  in  seeing  nature  grown  the  strongest, 
and  inclining  us  to  pursuits,  subjecting  us  to  habits,  which, 
out  of  the  ministry,  may  appertain  to  a  Christian,  but  which, 
in  the  ministry,  are  as  so  many  instances  of  disloyalty  and 
scandal.* 

*  What  follows  is  extracted  from  the  note-books  of  M.  Vinet's  au- 
ditors, and  is  only  another  form  of  the  thought  of  which  the  original 
expression  is  reproduced  in  the  text.  We  think  the  reader  may  be 
interested  to  see  both  versions. 

"  This  question  concerning  vocation  is  a  great  question.  But  it 
does  not  always  arise  out  of  itself.  In  order  to  resolve  it,  it  must  be 
well  considered,  and  considered  before  entering  into  the  ministry. 
Often,  nay  always,  should  the  candidate  be  questioning  himself;  but 
especially  at  two  periods ;  one  at  the  beginning,  and  the  other  at  the 
end  of  his  special  studies.  That  he  should  examine  himself  on  this 
point  at  the  beginning  of  these  studies  is  natural,  but  is  that  the  prop- 
er time  for  deciding  it  1  Some  may  be  under  a  powerful  impression, 
but  this  is  not  the  case  with  the  greater  part.  And  even  with  the 
smaller  number  such  an  impression  is  not  a  sure  sign  of  a  call.  Age 
may  have  great  influence ;  but  the  common  case  is  rather  one  of  in- 
decision, a  conflict  between  tastes  and  tendencies.  Should  we  ex- 
clude from  the  novitiate  those  who  do  not  find  themselves  under  a 
lively  impression  1  By  no  means  ;  we  should  try  them  ;  they  may 
perhaps  prove  themselves  sincere,  faithful — may  appreciate  the  beau- 
ty of  the  ministry,  may  not  be  urged  by  merely  external  influences. 
It  is  true  that  there  is  great  danger  in  a  candidate's  entering  on  his 
studies  in  such  a  state  of  mind.  Afterward,  when  he  is  more  un- 
impressed, when  the  course  of  his  life  may  take  a  different  direction, 
he  may  rather  persevere  in  than  renounce  his  present  dispositions. 
This  is  a  danger,  but  no  one  should  be  excluded  on  account  of  it.  At 
the  end  of  his  studies  he  should  interrogate  himself  in  a  more  deci- 
sive manner.  He  will  then  be  no  longer  doubtful  as  to  the  general 
agreement  between  his  profession  and  his  heart.  He  should  exam- 


NECESSITY    OF    PR  A  YE*.    *>  "'  103 


But  he  who  shall  have  made  use  of  all  these  means 
uot  feel  less,  but  more  than  any  other,  that  they  are  insuffi- 
cient in  themselves  ;  for  they  profit  only  the  upright  and 
sincere  soul^the  soul  which  is  free  from  all  foreign  preoc- 
cupation. And  how  can  one  assure  himself  ou  this  point, 
how  secure  himself  against  every  illusion,  if  he  do  riot  first 
obtain  that  single  eye,  that  pure  eye,  without  which  the  light 
itself  is  but  as  darkness  ?  How  can  he  perceive  in  himself 
a  spirit  in  which  objects  appear  as  they  are,  in  which  nothing 
irrelevant  mingles  itself,  in  which  we  know  and  judge  our- 
selves with  all  possible  certainty,  and  in  which,  to  say  all,  no 
serious  and  irreparable  error  can  have  place  ?  This  isola- 
tion, this  chosen  and  pure  medium,  is  prayer.  Truth  has 
its  dwelling  with  prayer. 

No  object  was  ever  more  worthy  of  it.  We  are  "  to  be- 
seech men  in  the  name  of  God,  and  as  though  God  besought 
them  by  us"  (2  Cor.,  v.,  20)  ;  and  how  can  we  venture  to 
do  this  without  his  leave  ?  and  how  can  we  be  sure  of  hav- 
ing his  leave,  when  we  may  directly  ask  him,  and  fail  to  do 
it  ?  I  do  not  attribute  to  prayer  any  supernatural  or  magical 
effect  ;  God  does  not  mean  to  exempt  or  deprive  us  of  the 
use  of  our  faculties  by  inviting  us  to  prayer;  he  does  not  prom- 
ise to  say  "  Go"  directly,  without  the  use  of  means,  to  the 
question  which  we  address  to  him,  "  Shall  I  go,  Lord?"  But 
besides  this  intrinsic  virtue  attached  to  prayer,  it  is  in  the 
power  of  God,  the  Lord  of  our  spirits  and  of  circumstances, 
to  combine  every  thing  in  such  a  manner  that  we  shall  see 
what  we  ought  to  see,  and  not  think  we  see  that  which  is 
not.  His  Providence  does  not  exercise  itself  at  the  expense 
of  our  liberty,  which  always  remains  perfect. 

We  shall  never  call  upon  God,  if  we  do  it  not  in  this  time 

ine  himself  thoroughly  :  if  he  find  that  he  has  no  call,  let.  him  have 
the  courage  to  retrace  his  steps.  Finally,  a  minister  who,  after  some 
period  of  practice,  learns  that  he  has  not  been  called,  has  indeed  made 
the  discovery  very  late,  but  not  too  late  to  abandon  the  ministry." 


104  THE    MINISTRY    WITHOUT    VOCATION. 

of  the  greatest  danger.  For  thus  truly  we  must  name  the 
chance  of  entering  into  the  ministry  without  a  call  to  it.  No 
reading,  example,  or  -company  ;  no  influence  of  education 
and  authority ;  no  temptation  from  without  or  within,  nei- 
ther excessive  riches  nor  excessive  poverty  ;  nothing  can  cor- 
rupt us  so  profoundly  or  so  irrevocably  as  a  ministry  exer- 
cised without  a  call ;  that  is  to  say,  without  the  convictions 
and  sentiments  which  are  its  only  legitimate  ground  ;  and 
the  Abbe  de  Saint  Cyran  has  reason  to  say,  "  that  no  men  are 
more  irreclaimable  than  those  who,  not  having  been  called  to 
the  priesthood  by  the  vocation  of  God,  do  nothing  which  ap- 
pears worthy  of  a  priest  all  their  life."*  Thought  terrible, 
but  true  !  For,  on  the  one  hand,  it  is  certain  that  the  one, 
without  a  call,  will  do  himself  exactly  as  much  evil  as  the 
other  will  do  himself  good  by  a  legitimate  ministry  ;  that 
whatever  moves  and  edifies  a  true  pastor  hardens  him  in  the 
same  proportion  ;  that  each  word  of  truth  which  he  pro- 
nounces shuts  his  heart  somewhat  more  to  the  sentiment  of 
truth  ;  and  that  he  perishes  by  that  by  which  others  live  : 
And  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  the 
crime  of  usurpation,  and  consequently  of  hypocrisy,  is  such 
that  the  scandal  of  morals  adds  sensibly  nothing  to  it,  and 
that  flagrant  scandals,  reproachful  as  they  are  to  the  minis- 
try, less  compromise  the  ministry.  These  scandals  are,  in 
our  view,  the  mark  of  a  slave  who  struggles  in  his  chains  ; 
they  are  as  an  abdication  of  the  ministry  ;  the  minister  who 
gives  them  is  a  robber,  but  not  an  impostor  ;  and  he  corrupts 
himself  less,  perhaps,  by  these  excesses  than  by  hypocrisy. 
The  other  does  much  more  evil ;  he  undertakes  the  function 
of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  only  to  weaken  the  Gospel,  to  re- 
tain under  empty  and  dead  forms  the  souls  that  are  commit- 
ted to  him,  to  make  them  sleep  a  sleep  still  more  profound. 
Strange,  but  true  ;  scandals  which  he  might  cause  by  irregu- 
lar conduct  would  be  comparative  benefits.  They  admit  of 
*  SAINT  CYRAN  :  Pentees  sur  le  Sacerdoce. 


THE    MINISTRY    WITHOUT    VOCATION.  105 

no  illusion ;  they  give  notice  that  truth  is  elsewhere,  or,  at 
least,  that  it  is  not  there  ;  but  decency  of  manners,  regularity 
in  purely  external  duties,  all  withouNjonviction,  are  the  most 
admirable  means  of  keeping  souls  far  from  the  living  waters, 
and  near  the  stagnant  and  putrid  pools  of  legalism,  of  form- 
alism, or  of  indifference.  I  do  not  inquire  whether  he  be 
more  or  less  culpable  than  a  scandalous  minister,  but  I  doubt 
not  that  he  does  more  evil. 

In  presence  of  a  danger  so  terrible,  what  is  the  stupidity 
that  would  not  tremble,  that  would  defy  appearances,  that 
would  not  suspect  the  wishes,  the  invitations,  and  the  coun- 
sels of  those  by  whom  we  feel  ourselves  most  and  best  loved  ; 
who,  in  a  word,  would  not  resist  all  combinations  of  impulse, 
and  who  would  not  seek  to  raise  himself  by  prayer  so  high 
above  the  illusions  of  imagination  and  all  human  influences, 
that  he  would  find  nothing  between  himself  and  the  truth  ? 
What  he  desires  is  a  call  which  comes  from  God  himself. 
He  will  not  be  satisfied  with  less  ;  he  will  not  rest  until  he 
has  drawn  from  God  the  solemn  word,  Go !  or,  Go  not ! 
This  word  God  without  doubt  will  not  articulate,  but  God 
will  make  all  the  objects,  the  consideration  of  which  ought 
to  determine  him,  to  reflect  themselves  purely  in  the  mirror 
of  his  conscience,  and  he  will  have,  if  we  may  so  speak,  the 
conscience  that  it  is  conscience  which  has  spoken — the  new 
man,  and  not  the  natural  man. 


-•-:-. 


':*•<   .-^fc  •*"-• 

'v3*>£  -:-.r.x 


DUTIES  OF  THE  PASTOR. 


THE  plan  which  I  have  adopted  is  not,  perhaps,  the 
best ;  but  we  may  tolerate  any  classification  of  things 
which  excludes  nothing  essential  and  embraces  noth- 
ing false. 

I  trace  many  concentric  circles  around  the  soul  of 
the  pastor,  which  is  my  centre  and  my  point  of  depart- 
ure. I  first  give  rules  relating  to  the  purely  individual 
and  interior  life  of  the  pastor ;  a  life  particular  and 
distinct,  by  which  all  the  other  spheres  of  his  existence 
are  determined. 

I  pass  afterward  to  his  social  life,  and,  first,  his  do- 
mestic life  (always  considering  him  as  a  pastor). 

Finally,  I  come  to  his  pastoral  life  properly  speak- 
ing, in  which  I  distinguish  the  pastor,  the  conductor 
of  worship,  and  the  preacher. 


PART    FIRST. 

*$*   . 

INDIVIDUAL  AND  INTERNAL  LIFE. 


I  ASSUME  a  holy  vocation  and  a  regular  entrance,  a  pastor- 
al and  even  a  zealous  spirit. 

The  pastor,  even  as  the  Christian,  must  fortify,  must  con- 
firm his  vocation  ((3e6aiav  -rroielodai,  2  Pet.,  i.,  10).  In  this 
there  is  a  mystery,  the  profound,  invisible  concurrence  of  the 
human  will  which  is  excited  with  the  Divine  will  which  ex- 
cites it.  It  is  with  vocation  as  with  conversion.  In  one  sense, 
we  are  called  but  once,  as  we  are  converted  but  once ;  in 
another  sense,  we  are  called  and  converted  every  day.  Anal- 
ogy here  should  suffice,  and  even  be  an  a  fortiori  argument ; 
but  the  Gospel  is  explicit :  St.  Paul  says  to  Timothy,  "  I  put 
thee  in  remembrance,  that  thou  stir  up  the  gift  of  God  which 
is  iu  thee." — 2  Tim.,  i.,  6. 

I  dismiss  the  question  whether  there  are  not  many  whom 
it  concerns  to  make  to  themselves  a  call,  while  they  are  al- 
ready engaged  in  the  work. 

The  exercise  of  the  ministry,  will  not  this  of  itself  suffice 
for  the  confirmation  of  the  call  ? — It  should  contribute  to  it, 
but  it  may  also  have  the  opposite  effect.  The  exercise  of 
the  ministry  endangers  the  spirit  of  the  ministry,  if  it  be  not 
sustained  from  within.  If  there  be  not  this  balance,  if  the 
internal  does  not  exert  itself  sufficiently  on  the  external,  the 
external  injures  the  internal,  as  the  internal  no  doubt  would 
fail  without  external  action.  There  is  danger  that  function 


110  RENEWAL    OF   VOCATION. 

may  become  a  substitute  for  feeling.*  Our  first  impressions 
have  in  them  much  of  imagination  ;  when  this  is  once  ex- 
hausted, and  without  further  aid  from  it  we  are  made  de- 
pendent for  feeling  on  the  heart  and  the  conscience,  it  is 
much  to  be  feared  that  we  shall  have  too  little  feeling. f 

We  must  not  depend  on  the  vivacity  of  our  first  impres- 
sions ;  that  which  affects  us  most  to-day  will  leave  us  cold 
soon  :  For  the  influence  of  things  on  our  sensibility  we  shall 
have  to  rely  on  their  direct  relation  to  our  heart  and  con- 

*  "  The  first  time  the  priests  and  Levites  saw  in  the  desert  the  holy 
tabernacle  which  Moses  was  directed  to  construct,  the  miraculous 
cloud  which  went  before  it,  the  glory  of  God  which  covered  this  holy 
place,  the  oracles  which  proceeded  from  the  inner  sanctuary,  the  mag- 
nificence and  the  august  solemnity  of  the  sacrifices  and  ceremonies, 
they  could  not  but  approach  them  with  a  holy  dread.  Of  the  purifi- 
cations, and  all  the  other  preparations  which  were  prescribed  to  min- 
isters by  the  law,  they  omitted  nothing.  But  gradually  the  daily  sight 
of  the  tabernacle  made  them  familiar  with  this  holy  place ;  the  pre- 
cautions ceased  with  their  awe  ;  the  prodigy  of  the  pillar  of  fire,  which 
God  continued  there  every  day,  became  contemptible  by  long  custom ; 
profanations  soon  followed ;  rash  ministers  ventured  to  offer  strange 
fire ;  others  usurped  the  functions  which  belonged  exclusively  to  the 
high-priest ;  at  last  the  daughters  of  Midian  soon  became  to  them  a 
stumbling-block  and  a  scandal,  and  hardly  in  the  entire  tribe  of  I,evi 
could  a  Phinehas,  a  holy  and  zealous  priest,  be  found,  who  dared  to 
avenge  the  honor  of  the  priesthood  and  the  sanctity  of  the  law,  which 
had  been  shamefully  dishonored  before  an  unfaithful  people." — MAS- 
SILLON,  Discours  sur  la  Necessite  ou  sont  lea  Ministres  de  sc  renouvcller 
dans  I' Esprit  de  leur  Vocation. 

t  In  the  first  fervor  of  the  Christian  and  of  the  minister,  imagination 
easily,  and  even  necessarily,  intermingles.  In  all  life  imagination  has 
its  part.  It  is  a  kind  of  vehicle  without  which  many  ideas  could  not 
reach  us.  And  how  far  does  its  power  extend !  even  to  making  us 
conscious  that  we  have  a  life  within  us  to  which  we  are  entire  stran- 
gers. It  enters  into  all  our  moral  acts,  and  in  some  in  a  very  high  de- 
gree. When  it  leaves  us,  every  thing  it  has  created  disappears  with 
it  as  a  phantom,  leaving  within  us  the  net  product  of  the  work  it  has 
wrought  in  us.  This  often  is  little.  The  lees  only  remain  at  the 
bottom  of  the  cup — the  cordial  of  imagination  has  been  drunk. 


RENEWAL    OF    VOCATION.  Ill 

:* 

•cience,  and,  from  being  apparently  full  of  zeal,  we  may  be- 
come mere  men  of  office.  There  must,  then,  be  a  renewal 
of  our  call,  and  in  proportion  as  the  charm  of  novelty  is  ef- 
faced, the  moral  element  must  be  strengthened. 

Now  the  first  means  of  renewing  our  vocation  as  pastors 
is  to  renew  our  vocation  as  Christians.  The  Christian  is  not 
to  be  forgotten  in  order  to  dream  only  of  the  pastor  ;  the  one 
can  not  of  itself,  and  all  alone,  do  the  work  of  the  other.  Even 
as  pastors,  it  is  important  to  remind  ourselves  that,  of  the 
souls  which  have  been  confided  to  our  care,  our  own  are  the 
first ;  that  toward  these  first  our  ministry  should  be  exercised  ; 
and  that,  first  of  all,  we  should  be  pastors  to  ourselves. 

Whether  it  be  that,  to  advance  the  salvation  of  others,  we 
must  not  neglect  our  own,  or  that  justice  requires  each  one's 
charity  to  begin  with  himself,  St.  Paul,  in  addressing  himself 
to  ministers  in  the  person  of  Timothy,  speaks  to  them  first 
concerning  themselves  :  "  Take  heed  to  thyself  and  to  thy 
doctrine,  for  in  so  doing  (in  doing  these  two  things,  and  not 
the  last  only)  thou  shalt  save  thyself  and  those  who  hear 
thee." — 1  Tim.,  iv.,  16.  "  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  and  to  all 
the  flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  over- 
seers."*— Acts,  xx.,  28. 

Nevertheless,  we  are  also  required  to  renew  directly  our 

*  "  To  observe  the  order  of  St.  Paul  (Acts,  xx.,  28 ;  1  Tim.,  iv.,  16), 
a  minister  must  begin  with  himself,  fulfill  his  own  duties,  and  care  for 
his  own  salvation  before  all  things.  Before  going  abroad  from  love  to 
his  neighbor,  let  him  withdraw  into  the  secret  place  of  the  divine  ho- 
liness. Before  compassionating  the  misery  of  others,  let  him  be  sens- 
ible of  his  own  ills  and  of  his  own  weaknesses.  And,  before  urging 
others  to  obey  the  law  of  God,  let  him  first  obey  it  himself.  The  first 
duty  of  a  bishop  is  to  be  holy." — DUGUET,  Traite  des  Devoirs  d'un 
jfcveque,  art.  ii.,  $  1.  Gregory  of  Nazianzen  expresses  himself  thus 
on  the  subject :  "  We  must  first  be  pure,  and  then  purify  others  ;  be 
taught,  and  then  teach  others ;  become  light,  and  then  enlighten  oth- 
ers ;  draw  near  to  God  ourselves,  and  then  induce  others  to  approach 
him  ;  sanctify  ourselves,  and  then  make  others  holy." 


112  SOLITUDE. 

vocation  as  pastors,  which  means  that  we  must  be  always 
renewing  in  ourselves  the  disposition  which  was  decisive  in 
respect  to  our  vocation. 

If,  therefore,  the  exercise  of  the  ministry  do  not  of  itself 
suffice  for  this  constant  renovation,  we  must  seek  the  means 
of  it  externally,  apart  from  the  ministry. 

The  first  of  these,  which  is  rather  the  condition  of  all,  is 
solitude.*  Let  us  not  exaggerate  ;  let  us  not  attempt  to  rec- 
ommend solitude  to  the  exclusion  or  detriment  of  social  life. 
For  the  advantage  of  this,  and  as  a  means  of  better  preparing 
himself  to  improve  it,  must  the  pastor  sometimes  withdraw 
himself  from  society.  In  a  solitude  too  profound,  too  protract- 
ed, there  are  peculiar  dangers,  and  greater  ones,  perhaps,  than 
those  of  the  world.  When  habitual,  solitude  is  contrary  to  the 
will  of  the  Creator,  who  said  it  was  not  good  for  man  to  be 
alone  ;  and  against  the  mind  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  prayed  to 
his  Father  not  to  take  us  out  of  the  world,  but  to  keep  us  from 
the  evil.  As  an  exception,  then,  and  not  as  a  rule,  is  solitude 
to  be  recommended.  But  so  regarded — regarded  as  an  ex- 
ception or  as  a  remedy  (we  do  not  nourish  ourselves  with  rem- 
edies), it  is  of  great  value. 

We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  solitude  is  good  in  itself:  It 
is  not,  except  with  certain  qualifications.  It  has  often  been 
spoken  of  with  the  unqualified  enthusiasm  which  we  have 
for  what  has  once  charmed  us.  Poets, t  moralists,  philoso- 
phers, have  vaunted  it ;  and  this  concert  of  praise,  surely,  is 
not  without  some  foundation.  But  we  must  not  be  indis- 
criminate. What  we  have  intended  to  recommend  is,  intern- 
al solitude,  or  the  spirit  of  solitude.  We  must  discipline  our- 
selves to  being  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  world,  to  tranquillity 

*  See,  on  this  subject,  a  discourse  of  M.  Vinet,  entitled  La  Solitude 
rccommandee  au  Pasteur, — Edit. 

t  See,  among  others,  LA  FONTAINE,  dans  Le  Songe  d'un  Habitant  du 
Mogol,  It  Juge  arbitre,  VHospitalier  et  la  Solitaire. 


SOLITUDE.  113 

in  the  midst  of  tumult,  to  stillness  in  the  midst  of  excitement. 
Having  made  ourselves  capable  of  this  kind  of  solitude,  we 
may  hold  ourselves  quit  of  the  other.  When  external  soli- 
tude is  denied  to  us,  we  think  that  the  other,  carefully  cul- 
tivated, may  be  relied  upon  as  sufficient. 

External  solitude  is  evil  if  it  be  not  good.  If  we  have  the 
world  in  the  heart,  we  shall  take  it  with  us  into  the  closet. 
To  an  unsocial,  envious,  irritable  man,  who  feeds  upon  his 
resentments  or  his  hatreds,  solitude  of  this  kind  is  very  injuri- 
ous. And  to  men  agitated  by  passion,  we  can.  in  many  cases, 
recommend  nothing  better  than  intercourse  with  others  who 
are  pursuing  some  useful  occupation.  Solitude  is  good  or  evil 
according  to  the  use  we  make  of  it. 

But  solitude  can  not  fail  to  be  useful  to  him  who  seeks 
good  from  it,  precisely  because  he  seeks  it ;  and  even,  previ- 
ous to  experience  of  it  in  ourselves,  we  can  easily  understand 
that  what  makes  outward  things  vanish,  and  silences  the 
noises  of  the  world,  favors  the  interviews  which  we  wish  to 
have  with  ourselves;  that,  except  in  these  circumstances,  we 
can  but  partially  hold  these  interviews ;  and,  in  particular, 
that  the  truths  which  concern  the  conscience  here  detach 
themselves  better  from  all  those  foreign  accessories  with 
which  they  are  overloaded  and  darkened  in  the  discussions 
which  are  carried  on  respecting  them.* 

Life,  in  our  day,  is  made  up  of  so  many  elements,  is  cut 
into  so  many  surfaces,  that  it  produces  a  kind  of  bewilder- 

*  Saint  Gregory  calls  the  occupations  of  the  ministry  a  tempest  of 
the  spirit.  Saint  Bernard  wrote  to  Pope  Eugene  thus :  "  Since  all  pos- 
sess you,  be  one  of  those  by  whom  you  are  possessed.  Why  should 
you  alone  be  deprived  of  the  gift  which  you  make  of  yourself  1  How 
long  will  you  not  receive  yourself,  in  your  turn,  among  others  1  You 
know  that  you  are  debtor  to  the  wise  and  the  unwise,  and  do  you 
refuse  yourself  only  to  yourselH  All  partake  of  you,  all  quench  their 
thirst  at  your  breast  as  at  a  public  fountain,  and  do  you  hold  yourself 
at  a  distance  athirst !" — SAINT  BERNARD,  Traitc  de  la  Consideration, 
liv.  i.,  cb.  v. 


114  SOLITUDE. 

ment,  and  the  eye  needs  to  repose  itself  in  the  quiet  and  sweet 
light  of  solitude.* 

We  must  not,  then,  despise  external  means  :  Jesus  Christ 
did  not  despise  them.  How  often  is  he  represented  in  the 
Gospel  as  withdrawing  himself,  and  passing  long  hours  away 
from  men  and  noise  !  Would  a  means  which  was  necessary 
to  Jesus  Christ  be  useless  to  us  ?  "I  learn  from  Saint  Au- 
gustine," says  Bossuet,  "  that  the  attentive  soul  makes  a  sol- 
itude for  itself:  Gignit  enim  sibi  ipsa  mentis  intentio  soli- 
tudinem.  But  let  us  not  flatter  ourselves  ;  if  we  would  keep 
ourselves  vigorous  in  the  inward  man,  we  must  know  how  to 
avail  ourselves  of  seasons  of  an  effective  solitude. t 

Moreover,  it  is  only  as  giving  opportunity  for  action  that 
solitude  is  desirable.  The  peace,  the  repose  which  it  offers, 
are  but  a  frame-work  which  we  have  to  fill  up.  Vagrancy 
of  thought  is  always  hurtful.  Christianity  makes  us  think, 
not  dream. 

Solitude,  on  account  of  its  general  influence  as  now  set 
forth,  is  most  valuable  to  a  minister  who  can  employ  it  in 
these  three  ways. 

1.  It  enables  him  to  take  an  estimate  of  his  modes  of  life, 
external  and  internal.  This  self-examination  should  be  often 
made,  for  the  progress  of  evil  is  no  less  rapid  than  insensible. 
We  are  worse  to-day  than  we  were  yesterday,  if  we  are  not 
better.  As  diligent  stewards,  let  us  settle  our  account  every 
evening,  for  the  thief  may  come  during  the  night.  A  too 
minute  manner  of  examining  ourselves  may,  however,  open 
a  door  to  selfishness  :  Let  us  then,  even  here,  be  on  our  guard, 

*  See,  on  the  Catholic  Institution  of  Retreats,  MASSILLON,  third  Syn- 
odal discourse,  De  la  Necessite  des  Retraites  pour  se  rcnouveller  dans  It 
Grace  du  Sacerdoce;  and  BOURDALOUE,  V  Avertissement  de  la  Retraitc 
Spirituelle. 

t  BOSSUET  :  Oraison  Funibre  de  Marie  Therese  d'Autriche.  For  the 
quotation  from  St.  Augustine,  see  De  divers.  Quaest.  ad  Simplic.,  lib. 
ii.,  Quaest.  iv.,  t.  vi.,  col.  118. 


PRAYER.  115 

for  the  enemy  glides  in  through  every  inlet.  Some,  with  too 
little  caution,  have  advised  us  to  keep  a  minute  and  daily 
journal ;  we  must  not  record  too  much  about  ourselves,  even 
though  we  record  evil.  We  shall  find  it  useful,  however,  to 
take  note  of  the  most  important  occurrences  of  our  life. 

2.  It  assists  him  in  gathering  up  the  results  of  his  expe- 
rience.    Experience  is  properly  a  reaction  upon  things  which 
have  been  done ;  it  does  not  suffice  to  have  seen  them,  to  have 
assisted  in  them  ;  we  must  reflect  upon  them,  detach  them, 
separate  them,  classify  them.     "  One  might  pass,"  says  Ar- 
genson,  "  the  whole  of  a  long  life  in  working  without  princi- 
ples, and  thereby  learn  nothing.     Experience  is  rather  the 
fruit  of  reflection  on  what  we  have  seen  than  the  result  of  a 
multitude  of  transactions  to  which  we  have  not  given  the 
attention  they  deserve." 

3.  It  aids  him  in  consulting  God.    The  holiest  occupations 
can  not  prosper  without  this ;  how  necessary,  then,  to  the  min- 
ister !    Let  him  regulate  his  remoter  conduct,  form  resolutions, 
deliberate  with  himself;  he  will  make  many  false  steps,  es- 
pecially at  the  outset,  if  he  does  not  settle  his  plans  of  pro- 
cedure :  But  let  God  be  called  to  the  consultation,  and  never 
let  Him  be  away  when  the  deliberations  are  going  on. 

In  solitude  PRAYER  finds  its  natural  place,  but  we  shall 
consider  it  apart  as  the  second  means  of  renewing  vocation. 
It  is  not  only  a  duty  and  a  privilege  ;  it  is  not  only  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  ministry,  it  is  one  of  its  labors  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  which  the  first  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ  demanded 
a  discharge  from  certain  secondary  functions  :  We  must,  said 
they,  give  ourselves  to  this. — Acts,  vi.,  4. 

Prayer  is  necessary  to  keep  us  at  the  proper  point  of  vision, 
which  is  always  escaping  from  us ;  to  heal  the  wounds  of  self- 
love  and  of  feeling  ;  to  renew  our  courage  ;  to  anticipate  the 
always  threatened  invasion  of  indolence,  of  levity,  of  dilatori- 
ness,  of  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical  pride,  of  pulpit  vanity,  of 


116  STUDY    OF   THE    BIBLE. 

professional  jealousy.  Prayer  resembles  the  air  of  certain 
isles  of  the  ocean,  the  purity  of  which  will  allow  no  life  to 
vermin.  With  this  atmosphere  we  should  compass  ourselves 
about,  as  the  diver  surrounds  himself  with  the  bell  before  he 
descends  into  the  sea.* 

But  the  prayer  of  a  pastor  is  sacerdotal  prayer,  and  as 
such  it  is  a  function.  It  has  been  said  that  he  who  works 
prays ;  how  much  more  true  is  it  that  he  who  prays  works  ! 
Prayer  is  a  work  like  that  of  Moses  in  the  mount.  Inter- 
cession is  what  remains  to  the  ministry  of  the  priesthood. f 
It  was  practiced  immediately  by  the  Great  Pastor  and  by 
his  apostles,  who,  without  ceasing,  made  mention  of  their 
flocks  in  their  prayers,  at  the  same  time  that  they  claimed 
intercession  from  their  flocks. \ 

Another  mode  of  employing  the  hours  of  a  pastor's  retreat, 
and  a  third  means  of  renewing  his  vocation,  is  STUDY. 

First,  the  study  of  the  Bible.  This,  even  when  divested 
of  every  thing  scientific,,  is  inexhaustible,  and  leads  to  new 
discoveries,  even  to  the  end  of  life.  For  the  pastor  it  is  both 
obligatory  and  necessary ;  obligatory,  since  his  business  is 
nothing  other  than  preaching  the  word  of  God,  or  according 
to  this  word  ;  and  thus  his  ministry  will  be  interesting  and 
fruitful  in  proportion  as  his  word  is  penetrated  with  the  sub- 
stance, and  even  with  the  letter,  §  of  the  Divine  word. 

*  Frequent  prayer  is  recommended  to  the  pastor  by  HARMS,  Pas- 
torallheologie,  tome  i.,  p.  25. 

t  Not  intercession  only,  but  prayer  for  the  coming  of  God's  king- 
dom. See  Isaiah,  Ixii.,  6,  7.  "  Ye  that  make  mention  of  the  Lord, 
give  yourselves  no  rest,  and  give  Him  no  rest  till  he  establish,  and 
till  he  make  Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the  earth." 

t  The  prayer  of  Bacon  before  his  study,  reported  by  M.  DE  VAU- 
ZELLES,  Histoirc  de  Bacon,  tome  i.,  p.  107.  That  of  Kepler  (Scmcur  de 
1838,  p.  245).  See  these  prayers,  and  two  passages  from  Massillon, 
in  the  Appendix,  note  G. 

l)  See  1  Tim.,  iv.,  13,  "  Give  attendance  to  reading,"  etc. ;  and  2 


STUDY    OF    THE    BIBLE.  117 

I  need  not  enlarge  on  the  richness  and  the  interest  of  the 
preaching  of  a  minister  who  does  not  confine  himself  to 
knowing  certain  parts  of  the  Bible,  but  who  understands  and 
cites  every  part. 

The  Bible  is  still  more  necessary  for  the  care  of  souls.  We 
run  the  risk  of  being  often  unprovided  for  occasions  as  they 
arise,  if  we  are  not  familiar  with  the  word  of  God.  What 
power  has  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  given  to  cer- 
tain missionaries.  They  doubtless  have  not  learned  it  by 
heart,  but  they  have  heart-knowledge  of  it.  This  is  the  best 
knowledge,  which  belongs  only  to  those  who  have  felt  its 
power.  Let  the  minister  read  the  Bible  as  a  pastor  and  as 
a  Christian  ;  there  is  danger  of  reading  it  chiefly  as  a  preach- 
er. He  should  seek  in  it,  not  passages  and  texts,  but  pow- 
ers, virtues,  inspirations;  otherwise  he  will  consult  it  no  lon- 
ger as  a  book,  but  as  a  collection  of  verses. 

The  holy  men,  as  well  as  holy  words  of  the  Bible,  are  to 
be  studied.  We  too  much  neglect  this  ;  lives  are  the  words 
of  God.  Christianity,  in  its  greatest  depth,  is  not  a  book, 
though  it  has  a  book  for  its  foundation  and  support  ;  it  is  a 
fact  and  a  moral  fact.  The  lives  of  saints,  the  lives  of  pas- 
tors, the  lives  of  missionaries,  should  generally  be  studied. 
They  tend  to  keep  us  at  the  highest  point  in  our  ministry. 
We  shall  not  be  kept  there  if  we  look  only  to  what  is  cus- 
tomary. 

The  Bible  should  be  studied  in  the  original.  Even  for  the 
country-pastor  this  study  is  necessary,  for  it  concerns  him  to 
be  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  We  may 
doubtless  conceive  of  preaching  as  attended  with  the  Divine 
blessing,  where  this  means  is  not  used  ;  but  the  knowledge 
of  the  sacred  languages  is  a  privilege  not  to  be  despised. 

Together  with,  or  rather  subordinate  to,  the  study  of  the 

Tim.,  iii.,  15,  17,  "From  a  child  thou  hast  known  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures," etc. 


1  1 8  STUDY. 

Bible,  there  are  other  studies  which  the  pastor  should  pursue. 
There  are  abuses  here,  however,  which  we  shall,  in  the  first 
place,  separate. 

1.  The  study  of  frivolous  things,  or  study  undertaken  with 
a  frivolous  end.     We  should  beware  of  studying  from  mere 
curiosity,  which  only  serves  to  feed  our  vanity  ;  and  avoid  the 

"foolish  questions  of  which  St.  Paul  speaks.* 

2.  Expecting  from  study  what  it  can  not  give,  the  true 
knowledge  of  God,  the  love  of  God,  peace  of  heart.     When 
knowledge  has  gone  so  far  as  to  make  our  darkness  visible, 
it  has,  as  to  some  things,  rendered  us  the  greatest  service  we 
can  receive  from  it.     It  is  a  preparatory  teacher ;  it  is  like 
the  law,  and  has  the  same  purpose — "  a  schoolmaster  to  bring 
us  to  Christ ;"  but  it  is  not  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life. 
With  much  knowledge,  we  may  have  no  faith  ;  we  may  bo- 
lieve,  and  believe  truly,  without  having  any  knowledge  :  The 
law  of  God,  still  more  the  Gospel,  gives  wisdom  to  the  sim- 
ple, t     There  is,  says  St.  John,  an  unction  which  teaches  us 
all  things,  after  which  we  have  no  need  that  any  one  should 
teach  us. — John,  ii.,  27. 

3.  Lastly,  excess ;  that  is  to  say,  giving  too  much  of  our 
time  and  strength  to  a  study  to  which,  as  it  has  no  other  end 
than  to  prepare  us  for  the  ministry,  or  to  give  us  proper  rec- 
reation, the  ministry  should  not  be  sacrificed.     This  would 
be  neglecting  the  end  for  the  sake  of  the  means.     The  least 
of  our  duties  should  appear  to  us  more  important  than  the 
most  interesting  book,  and  should  be  able  to  withdraw  us 
from  it.J 

A  question,  a  delicate  one,  here  presents  itself;  that  which 
relates  to  scfwol-teaching  ministers.  It  was  not  a  delicate 
question  some  centuries  ago,  perhaps  it  will  not  be  always. 

.*  "Doting  about  questions  and  strifes  of  words." — 1  Tim.,  vi.,  4. 
t  "The  meek  will  he  teach  his  way." — Psalm  xxv.,  9. 
$  Le  Clitophon,  DE  L A  BRUYERE,  Lcs  Caracttres,  au  chapitre  Des  Bient 
df,  la  Fortune. 


STUDY.  119 

'JT  •  "*•"  •' 

It  was  once  thought  proper  by  every  one  that  priests  should 

be  teachers  ;  it  is  otherwise  now.  Knowledge  has  been  sec- 
ularized ;  it  has  been  separated  from  religion,  perhaps,  to  serve 
it  better.  Shall  we  say,  however,  that  teaching  school  is  in- 
compatible with  the  ministry  ?  No  ;  this  also  is  a  ministry. 
Still,  it  is  out  of  place,  in  the  actual  relations  of  life,  to  con- 
secrate ourselves  to  the  ministry,  and  afterward  be  at  lib- 
erty to  choose  between  the  pastorate  and  the  instruction  of 
youth. 

These  abuses  being  removed,  we  think  we  may  recommend 
to  the  minister  to  give  a  part  of  his  time  to  study. 

1 .  He  has  studied  with  reference  to  his  functions ;  what 
he  has  learned,  he  has  learned  that  he  may  apply  it  in  the 
practice  of  his  duties,  not  the  more  general  results  only,  but 
also  the  particular  notions.     Now  it  is  well  known  that  we 
lose  what  we  do  not  take  care  of.     Besides,  we  should  not 
think  that  we  learned  at  the  University  all  that  we  can  learn, 
or  all  that  we  need  to  know.     On  many  important  points 
science  has  renewed  itself,  perhaps  has  changed  its  form,  since 
we  left  the  Academy. 

2.  There  is  a  disadvantage  in  occupying  the  mind  with 
only  practical,  particular,  individual  questions  :  It  contracts 
the  mind,  and  injures   practice   itself.     Knowledge   is  the 
remedy.     It  tends  to  correct  the  abuse  of  practice  by  theory. 
Bengel  thinks  it  would  be  well  to  make  trial  of  the  pastoral 
work  in  the  country,  and  then  resume  our  studies  for  a  time.* 
Thus  would  life  illustrate  knowledge,  action  cast  light  upon 
thought,  and  reciprocally.     Harms  finds  motives  for  cultivat- 
ing knowledge  equally  in  a  great  and  in  a:  small  number  of 
occupations. 

*  When  a  candidate  has  passed  some  time  among  country  people, 
as  vicar,  in  a  rural  parish,  and  has  learned  what  is  the  gustum  p/ebe- 
ium  et  popularem  (how  the  people  look  at  religion),  it  is  useful  for  him 
to  remit  the  work  for  a  while,  to  return  to  his  theology,  and  to  pass 
it  in  review  again  with  greater  application. — BENGEL. 


120  STUDY. 

Practice  apart,  thought  is  impoverished  if  we  do  not  study. 
This  has  been  felt  by  the  most  lively  and  productive  minds. 
We  can  not  of  ourselves  nourish  ourselves ;  we  must  receive 
in  order  to  produce.  Study,  it  is  true,  is  not  confined  to  read- 
ing :  When  we  have  learned  something  from  books,  and  from 
the  book  par  excellence,  as  well  as  from  others,  we  must  ex- 
ercise our  powers  to  assimilate  it  to  ourselves,  as  we  do  our 
bodily  food.  But  when,  without  intercourse  with  books,  or 
in  the  absence  of  facts,  we  labor  alone,  what  supports  our 
labors  besides  our  own  recollections  ?  Whence  come  our 
thoughts,  if  not  from  facts,  or  from  books,  or  from  social  in- 
tercourse, another  great  book  which  demands  our  study  ? 
We  must  study,  then,  to  excite  and  enrich  our  own  mind  by 
means  of  other  men's.  Those  who  do  not  study  find  their 
talents  enfeebled,  and  their  minds  become  decrepit  before  the 
time.  In  respect  to  preaching,  experience  demonstrates  this 
most  abundantly.  Whence  conies  it  that  preachers,  much 
admired  at  their  beginning,  decline  so  rapidly,  or  remain  so 
much  below  the  hopes  to  which  they  had  given  birth  ?  Most 
frequently  it  is  because  they  did  not  continue  their  studies.  A 
faithful  pastor  always  studies  to  a  certain  extent ;  besides  the 
Bible,  he  constantly  reads  the  book  of  human  nature,  which 
is  always  open  before  him ;  but  this  unscientific  study  does 
not  suffice.  Without  incessant  application,  we  may  make 
sermons,  even  good  sermons,  but  they  will  all  more  and  more 
resemble  each  other.  A  preacher,  on  the  contrary,  who  pur- 
sues a  course  of  solid  thinking,  who  nourishes  his  mind  by 
various  reading,  will  always  be  interesting.  He  who  is  gov- 
erned by  singleness  of  purpose,  will  find  in  all  books,  even 
in  those  which  do  not  relate  directly  to  the  ministry,  some- 
thing which  he  can  use  in  preaching. 

3.  The  apostles  recommend  science  or  knowledge  (2  Pet., 
i.,  5,  6)  ;  there  is  no  difference  :  For,  in  saying  that  knowledge 
puffeth  up  while  charity  edifieth  (1  Cor.,  viii.,  1),  they  spoke 
of  the  danger  of  knowledge — an  inevitable  danger,  in  fact,  if 


STODY.  121 

knowledge  is  not  counterpoised  by  Christian  humility.  Knowl- 
edge may  even  endanger  humility  ;  but  it  is  thus  with  all 
the  developments  of  human  existence,  and  unless  we  would 
institute  an  agrarian  law,  at  once  of  knowledge  and  of  land, 
we  must  not  think  to  proscribe  the  culture  of  our  faculties 
and  the  development  of  the  mind.  If  it  be  said  that  the 
apostles  had  no  reference  to  science  with  its  actual  develop- 
ments, this  was  because  they  had  it  not  before  their  eyes : 
They  sanctioned  it,  however,  without  knowing  and  without 
foreseeing  it.  It  did  not  depend  on  them,  it  does  not  depend 
on  us,  to  reduce  this  science  to  a  small  number  of  elements  : 
it  is  what  times,  and  changes,  and  the  adversaries  of  reli- 
gion themselves  have  made  it.  Friends  and  enemies  have 
all  contributed  their  aid  ;  and  it  is  sufficient  for  the  justifica- 
tion of  real  science  that  knowledge  has  been  recommended. 
In  knowing,  at  this  time,  more  than  the  men  of  the  apostolic 
age,  we  have  not  more  science  than  they  had  ;  for  our  sci- 
ence is  nothing  more  than  a  response  to  questions  which 
have  multiplied  since  their  day. 

Is  the  study  which  we  recommend  only  that  of  theology  ? 
But  what  is  theology,  unless  a  point  of  view  (the  religious 
point  of  view)  of  science,  the  study  of  all  things  as  relating 
to  religion  ?  And  if  the  knowledge  of  the  medium  in  which 
a  thing  moves  is  essential  to  the  knowledge  of  the  thing  itself, 
what  is  there  that  a  theologian  should  be  permitted  to  re- 
main voluntarily  ignorant  of  ?  What  an  incomplete,  false, 
narrow  view  would  not  the  theologian  have  of  man  and  of 
human  life,  if  he  knew  theology  only  in  the  restricted  sense 
of  this  wprd  !  The  simplest  of  ministers,  the  least  learned,  in 
order  to  fulfill  his  ministry,  must  necessarily  look  around  him. 
He  has  also  his  kind  of  science — a  kind  superior  in  one  re- 
spect to  the  pure  science  of  books  ;  and  in  another,  to  that  ig- 
norant, legal,  artful  exegesis,  to  that  literalism  which  makes 
no  account  either  of  common  sense  or  experience,  and  which 
infatuates  itself  with  chimeras.  All  becomes  religion  for  the 

F 


•it. 


122  STUDY. 

Christian,  all  becomes  theology  for  the  theologian  ;  all  is  ap- 
plication or  proof  of  the  truth.  Study  has  a  very  direct  prac- 
tical importance.  There  is  no  development  of  the  human 
mind  which  may  not  be  an  aid  or  an  obstacle  to  religion. 
Nothing  is  indifferent  ;  all  aids  or  injures.  And  the  most 
scientific  doctrines,  the  most  abstract  systems,  at  the  end  of 
a  certain  time,  descend  among  the  people. 

We  have  seen  how  quickly  the  fountains  of  thought  will 
dry  up  without  study  :  It  is  with  the  mind  as  with  the  earth ; 
it  is  the  variety  or  alternation  of  culture  which  maintains  its 
fertility.* 

*  M.  Vinet  has  added  in  the  margin  :  "  As  preaching  improves  by 
our  various  reading."  This  is  the  complement  of  the  idea.  The  last 
two  paragraphs  received  some  amplifications  in  the  same  lecture, 
and  we  think  we  ought  to  reproduce  them  from  the  note-books  of 
the  students. 

"  We  may  think,  perhaps,  that  the  minister  has  quite  enough  to  en- 
gage him  in  theology ;  and  that  for  him  the  time  for  studying  the 
profane  sciences  is  past.  Let  us,  first,  remark  that  profane  is  an  op- 
probrious term  improperly  transferred  to  things  which  are  not  wrong 
in  themselves.  For  those  with  whom  religion  is  not  every  thing,  there 
are,  in  fact,  two  spheres,  the  religious  and  the  profane ;  but  for  the 
Christian  nothing  is  profane  ;  every  thing  is  subservient  to  holiness. 
Still,  we  accept  the  word,  and  apply  it  to  sciences  which  have  no  nec- 
essary connection  with  religion.  \\Tiat  is  the  meaning  of  the  word 
theology  1  Its  first  signification  is  special :  according  to  this,  theology 
is  distinguished  from  philosophy,  from  literature,  from  art,  &c.  The 
distinction,  no  doubt,  is  useful ;  but  after  carefully  denning  the  prov- 
ince of  theology,  we  must  not  then  maintain  that  it  excludes  the  oth- 
er sciences.  It  embraces  an  immense  amount  of  profane  elements ; 
philosophy,  history,  chronology,  grammar,  &c.  Separating  the  sci- 
entific elements,  nothing  remains  but  the  religion  of  the  community 
of  believers.  It  is  important,  then,  to  study  all  that  which,  as  con- 
nected with  religion,  constitutes  theology.  We  must  not  set  absolute 
and  impassable  limits.  In  a  wider  sense,  we  may  say  that  theology 
attracts  all  to  itself,  that  it  subordinates  to  itself  all  the  sciences,  and 
receives  from  them  their  tribute.  And  without  disputing  as  to  the 
word  theology,  consider  that  there  is  not  a  development  of  the  human 


STUDY.  123 

Positions,  likewise,  are  very  diverse,  and  require  or  permit 
more  or  less.  There  is  certainly  some  difference  between  a 
country  and  a  city  pastor.  But  it  would  be  wrong  to  think 
that  the  former  might  dispense  with  study  ;  nay,  to  him  it  is 
all  the  more  necessary,  as  his  life  4s  more  isolated.  We  have 
spoken  generally ;  we  have  said  what  ought  to  be  required 
of  an  ecclesiastic  in  an  ordinary  and  a  tranquil  position.  He 
ought  to  apply  himself  to  regular,  methodical,  specific  study  ; 
to  cultivate  science  liberally,  with  candor,  with  a  true  spirit 
of  research.  A  minister,  doubtless,  need  not  ordinarily  re- 
examine  the  foundation  of  his  faith ;  but  he  may  possibly  be 
obliged  to  do  this,  as  is  proved  by  the  example  of  Richard 
Baxter,  who,  finding  himself  in  doubt  about  every  thing,  re- 
established his  historical  faith  by  the  strongest  studies. 

To  complete  what  we  have  now  said  on  the  individual 
life  of  the  pastor,  let  us  add,  that  he  ought  to  lay  out  a  plan 
of  life,  to  draw  out  for  himself  certain  rules ;  not  to  allow 
himself,  without  any  resistance,  to  be  borne  and  led  away  by 
the  flow  of  hours,  and  by  the  flux  and  reflux  of  affairs.  Cer- 
tainly, no  man,  in  one  sense,  is  less  a  master  of  his  life  than 
he ;  nevertheless,  he  will  gain  something  for  his  soul,  and  also 
for  his  ministry,  by  introducing  into  his  life  as  much  of  regu- 

mind  which  does  not  either  benefit  or  injure  religion.  As  it  borders 
on  every  thing,  so  every  thing  borders  on  it.  It  must  embrace  all 
life.under  penalty,  if  it  does  not,  of  being  banished  from  it.  This  is 
true  now  more  than  evej.  Our  time,  notwithstanding  its  chaotic  as- 
pects, is  still  a  time  of  organization.  Piety  only  can  organize  the 
world  ;  and  to  be  organized,  the  world  must  be  known.  Preaching, 
accordingly,  that  of  the  pulpit  and  that  of  books,  must  undergo  some 
modifications.  The  minister  must  know  many  things,  not  to  be  cum- 
bered with  them,  but  to  serve  himself  of  them  with  reference  to  the 
one  thing  needful.  The  more  we  sift  every  thing,  the  more  shall  we 
be  able  "  to  bring  into  captivity  every  thought  to  the  obedience  ot 
Christ." — 2  Cor.,  x.,  5.  The  great  awakenings  have  all  been  pro- 
moted by  science.  The  Reformers  were  the  learned  men  of  their  age. 
Unenlightened  men  have  never  succeeded  in  any  thing. — Edit. 


124  ECONOMY    OF    TIME. 

larity  as  possible,  always  prepared,  nevertheless,  to  sacrifice 
regularity  to  charity.  In  doing  so,  he  will  spare  himself  much 
trouble,  and  gain  much  time.* 

The  economy  of  time  is  a  secret  which  no  one  ought  better 
to  understand  than  the  minister,  since  no  one  as  much  as  he 
should  reverence  time,  of  which  eternity  is  made.  He  may 
lose  much  time  without  gaining  a  proportional  amount  of  rest. 
We  save  time  by  doing  nothing  superfluous,  and  by  not  add- 
ing superfluous  things  to  our  necessary  works,  and  by  com- 
bining some  works  with  others.  We  save  it  by  knowing  how 
to  defend  it  against  importunity  and  indiscretion  :  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  do  this  when  looked  at  in  a  worldly  aspect,  but  easier 
when  regarded  as  a  religious  duty.f 

We  can  not  here  too  earnestly  recommend  to  the  minister 
the  habit  of  early  rising.  The -hour  of  dawn  is  the  golden 
hour.  Later,  there  is  in  the  mind  a  sort  of  noise  of  all  exter- 
nal and  internal  ideas.  At  dawn  nothing  has  preceded  our 
impressions,  and  nothing  embarrasses  them.  Without  consid- 
ering that  the  minister  can  answer  less  than  another  for  what 
his  day  is  to  be,  he  ought  to  appreciate  more  than  any  other 
the  advantages  of  this  custom.  It  was  thus  with  the  royal 

*  Duguet  refers  to  a  bishop  who  dismissed  persons  who  interrupt- 
ed him  in  his  reserved  hours  with  these  words :  "  Sufficient  unto 
the  day  is  the  evil  thereof." — Traite  des  Devoirs  d'un  fivcque,  art.  ii., 
$90. 

t  An  aged  American  pastor  relates  that  in  London,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  ministry,  he  visited  the  Rev.  Matthew  Wilks,  who  receiv- 
ed him  with  cordiality.  After  some  moments,  when  they  had  told 
each  other  the  most  important  religious  news  they  had  heard,  the 
conversation  dropped.  Mr.  Wilks  broke  the  silence  by  saying,  "  Have 
you  any  thing  more  to  tell  me  1"  "  Nothing  of  special  interest."  "  Do 
you  desire  any  further  information  from  me  V  "  None."  "  Then  it 
is  best  we  should  separate :  I  am  engaged  in  my  Master's  business  ; 
good-by,  sir."  I  thus  received,  continued  the  pastor,  a  lesson  on  the 
impropriety  of  encroaching  on  another's  hours,  and  on  the  firmness 
with  which  we  should  defend  them. — Anecdotet  on  the  Christian  Min- 
istry :  an  English  work. 


ASCETI8ME.  125 

prophet,  who  says,  "  In  the  morning  will  I  direct  my  prayer 
unto  thee,  and  will  look  up." — Ps.  v.,  4.  "  My  heart  said  to 
me  on  thy  part,  Seek  my  face."* — Ps.  xxvii.,  8.  "  I  prevent- 
ed the  dawning  of  the  day,  and  cried." — Ps.  cxix.,  147.  Now 
who  should  say  this  with  more  propriety  than  a  minister  ?t 
Moreover,  it  is  a  victory  over  the  senses  ;  and  the  minister, 
whatever  may  be  his  situation  and  his  views,  should  act  as 
if  he  were  preparing  himself  for  a  career  of  privations  and  fa- 
tigues :  He  should,  more  than  any  other,  be  poor  in  spirit,  and 
exercise  himself  every  day  in  dying  to  himself. 

This  brings  us  to  ascetisme.j. 

"  Bodily  exercise  profiteth  little,"  says  St.  Paul.  —  1  Tim., 
iv.,  8.  He  speaks  elsewhere  of  human  ordinances,  which 
have,  as  to  truth,  an  appearance  of  wisdom  in  will-worship, 
and  in  a  certain  humility,  in  that  they  do  not  spare  the  body, 
and  that  they  have  no  respect  to  what  may  satisfy  the  flesh. 
—Col.,  ii.,  23. 

Saint  Paul  is  against  bodily  exercise,  apart  from  piety,  to 
which  he  opposes  it  in  the  same  verse  of  the  first  epistle  to 
Timothy  ;  and  certainly  such  an  exercise  does  profit  little. 
He  found  only  an  "  appearance"  in  human  ordinances,  of 
which  the  principle  was  self-righteousness  and  the  merit  of 
works.  He  there  opposes  in  advance,  and  for  all  times,  the 
e\er  reappearing  hydra  of  self-righteousness.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  would  not  have  us  make  our  liberty  a  pretext 
for  living  after  the  flesh. — Gal.,  v.,  13.  He  says  elsewhere: 
"  I  keep  my  body  under,  and  bring  it  into  subjection,  lest,  aft- 
er having  preached  to  others,  I  myself  should  be  cast  away." 
— 1  Cor.,  ix.,  27.  Again,  he  says  :  "  Make  no  provision  for  the 
flesh,  to  satisfy  the  lusts  thereof." — Rom.,  xiii.,  14.  Hence  I 
do  not  think  that  he  has  condemned,  under  the  name  of  bod- 
ily exercise,  any  thing  besides  legal  practices,  "  ordinances," 

*  The  French  version. — Tr. 

t  Prayer  of  Bacon.     See  Appendix,  note  G. 

J  Not  asceticism.     The  French  word  is  retained. — Transl. 


126  ASCETISME. 

as  he  himself  calls  it ;  I  think  he  does  not  condemn  exercise 
as  such — voluntary  exercise.  I  do  not  find,  in  truth,  a  trace 
of  fasting,  or  any  thing  parallel,  in  the  history  of  the  apostles  ; 
but,  on  the  other  side,  why  should  these  exercises  have  been 
mentioned  if  they  had  a  place,  since  the  apostles'  aim  was  not 
to  permit  abolished  servitude  to  put  itself  in  the  place  of  lib- 
erty ?  If  these  exercises  were  practiced,  it  must  have  been  in 
secret ;  for  they  must  have  conformed  themselves  to  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Savior  :  "  Thou,  when  thou  fastest,  anoint 
thy  head  and  wash  thy  face,  that  thou  appear  not  unto  men 
to  fast,  but  unto  thy  Father,  who  is  in  secret." — Matt.,  vi.,  17, 
18.  Besides,  the  life  which  the  apostles  led  was  a  continual 
fast,  which  they  had  no  need  to  aggravate ;  exercise  was  not 
wanting  as  to  them.  It  is,  however,  remarkable  that  St. 
Paul,  whose  life,  certainly,  was  no  less  a  continual  fast  than 
that  of  the  other  apostles,  should  have  said,  "  I  keep  my  body 
under,  and  bring  it  into  subjection."* — 1  Cor.,  is..,  21. 

I  do  not  think  that,  in  a  more  happy  external  condition,  it 
is  either  forbidden  or  useless  to  treat  our  body  with  severity, 
and  to  impose  on  ourselves,  at  least  now  and  then,  certain  pri- 
vations which  our  ordinary  condition  does  not  impose  on  us. 
Moreover,  it  is  well  to  break  through  our  habits.  Do  we 
know  to  what  we  are  to  be  called  ?  As  to  our  liberty  to  do  so, 
"  I  see  that  our  Lord  fasted." — Luke,  iv.,  21.  I  see  also,  in 
many  places,  that  he  supposed  the  legitimacy  of  these  exer- 
cises, forbidding  only  publicity  and  ostentation,  as  the  passage 
above  cited  proves  (Matt.,  v.,  17,  18);  and  this  other  place  : 
"  When  the  bridegroom  shall  be  taken  from  them,  then  shall 
they  fast"  (Matt.,  ix.,  13);  which  presents  fasting  under  a 

*  "  I  was  in  fasting  and  in  prayers  :"  Cornelius  the  centurion. — 
Acts,  x.,  30.  "  That  ye  may  give  yourselves  to  fasting  and  prayer." 
— 1  Cor.,  vii.,  5.  Fasting  is  always  represented  as  inseparable  from 
prayer ;  but  voluntary  fasting  is  fully  sanctioned  by  this  passage  : 
"  This  kind  (of  demons)  goeth  not  forth  but  by  prayer  and  fasting." — 
Matt.,  xvii.,  21.  Now  we  have  demons  to  cast  out. 


ASCETISME.  127 

new  aspect,  that  of  a  memorial  or  symbol.  Jesus  Christ  does 
not  recommend  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath  any  more  than 
fasting  ;  He  supposes  both.  The  utility  of  these  exercises 
would  be  overbalanced,  would  be  absorbed,  by  the  sentiment 
of  self-righteousness,  if  it  should  mingle  itself  with  our  exer- 
cises :  But,  can  not  we  separate  the  use  from  the  abuse  which 
corrupts  it  ?  We  can  oppose  scarcely  any  thing  to  these  prac- 
tices, except  the  idea  of  Christian  liberty  ;  but  in  what  respect 
does  liberty  suffer  by  an  action  entirely  free  ?  and  if  there  is,  in 
fasting,  an  appearance  of  humility  which  deceives,  may  there 
not  be,  in  the  suppression  of  fasting,  a  liberty  which  equally 
deceives  ? 

We  now  see  these  things  only  through  the  abuse  which  has 
been  made  of  them  in  the  Romish  Church  ;  but  is  it  through 
this  medium  that  we  ought  to  look  at  them  ?  I  admit  that 
Massillon,  in  his  sermon  on  fasting,  presents  this  practice,  and 
recommends  it  precisely  in  the  sense  in  which  St.  Paul  con- 
demns it.  We  must  avoid  too  special  prescriptions,  which  de- 
stroy liberty  ;  but  liberty  has  been  given  to  us  in  order  to  bet- 
ter obedience. 

If  it  be  admitted  that  bodily  exercise,  supposing  it  to  be 
free  and  gratuitous,  is  generally  useful,  and  even  necessary  to 
Christians,  it  were  superfluous  to  insist  much  on  its  utility  to 
pastors.  It  is,  we  may  add,  unnecessary,  in  any  case,  to  inflict 
sufferings  on  ourselves ;  but  we  may  refuse  ourselves  lawful 
enjoyments — even  those  simple  enjoyments,  the  habitual  pri- 
vation of  which  would  constitute  a  real  injury,  and  be  incom- 
patible with  our  health. 

We  ought  to  remember,  in  a  general  way,  that  the  body 
weighs  us  down ;  that  by  it  we  are  connected  with  arid  be- 
long to  inert  matter  ;  that  it  is  a  weight  we  must  throw  over- 
board in  order  to  save  the  ship.  We  must  not  forget  that 
the  body  is  likewise  a  slave  who  would  be  the  master :  The 
Christian  should  treat  it  with  severity.  But  it  is  not  an  in- 
termittent fast  which  we  need  ;  it  is  a  continual  fast,  one  of 


128  ASCETISME. 

every  day,  of  the  whole  life.  True  fasting,  the  true  askese,* 
should  be  applied  to  the  appetites  of  the  mind  as  well  as  of 
the  body.  Curiosity,  ambition,  external  activity,  the  desire  of 
influence,  the  thirst  for  power,  all  these  appetites,  all  these 
attractions,  which  would  turn  us  out  of  our  course,  that  is  to 
say,  in  reality,  make  us  change  our  course,  are  very  strong 
and  very  difficult  to  vanquish.  It  is  only  love,  and  a  holy 
enthusiasm  for  our  profession,  which  can  carry  us  through. 

*  Elsewhere  M.  Vinet  wrote  cacese.    See  page  99. — Edit. 


PART    SECOND 

RELATIVE   OR  SOCIAL   LIFE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SOCIAL    LIFE    IN    GENERAL. 

WE  are  not  now  to  treat  of  pastoral  life  in  the  direct  and 
actual  sense.  We  are  to  consider  it  in  its  relations  to  general 
society,  regarded,  however,  from  the  stand-point  and  in  the 
concerns  of  the  ministry  :  not  the  office  now,  but  only  the  du- 
ties. 

In  this  view,  however,  it  is  the  beginning,  the  nearer  bound- 
ary of  the  ministry.  The  pastoral  impress  should  show  it- 
self in  these  general  relations.  If  the  conduct  of  the  pastor, 
in  these  general  relations,  does  not  announce  him  as  pastor, 
it  should  at  least  correspond  to  this  character.  If  we  do  not 
recognize  him  as  a  pastor,  we  should  at  least  have  no  surprise 
on  learning  that  he  is  one.  Let  this  be  his  rule  and  measure. 

It  is  important  for  a  minister  to  keep  a  watch  over  him- 
self in  these  social  relations.  He  is  a  city  set  upon  a  hill. 
In  the  eyes  of  the  world,  he  is  the  representative  of  Christian 
ideas,  and  the  majority  judge  of  Christianity  by  his  example.* 
This,  perhaps,  will  not  excuse  them,  but  it  involves  him  in  a 
high  responsibility. 

*  "  The  people  of  this  world,"  says  Massillon,  "  regard  our  life  as 
the  reality  and  the  just  abatement  to  which  they  must  adhere."  (A 
passage  already  cited,  page  69.) 

F2 


130  SOCIAL    LIFE    IN    GENERAL. 

The  minister  is  the  official  Christian ;  he  is  a  symbolic 
man.  He  is  so  at  all  times.  Those,  then,  who  are  not 
tempted  to  judge  of  Christianity  by  him,  will  judge  him  by 
the  Christianity  he  preaches.  In  reality,  these  two  things 
are  not  alternatives  ;  they  both  exist.  We  shall  be  judged 
by  Christianity,  and  Christianity  by  us.  We  shall  not  think 
ourselves  obliged  to  do  better,  or  to  be  more  useful  than  the 
pastor  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  we  require  him  to  be  as  per- 
fect as  his  doctrine.  We  expect  him  to  be  the  same  when 
we  see  and  when  we  hear  him.  And  every  one  knows  very 
well  what  he  ought  to  be,  for  every  one  knows  what  a  Chris- 
tian ought  to  be.  And  if  every  one  applied  to  himself  the 
rule  which  he  applies  to  the  pastor,  every  one  would  be  a 
model.  Men  are  apt  to  frame  the  most  exquisite  morality 
as  the  measure  of  what  is  due  from  their  neighbors,  and 
the  most  relaxed  morality  as  the  measure  of  what  is  due 
from  themselves.  From  these  two  perils  the  pastor  would 
be  tempted  to  despair,  if  he  did  not  seek  strength  from  a 
higher  source  than  the  world  and  himself.  The  world  does 
more  than  judge  ;  it  binds  the  pastor  to  a  certain  mode  of 
life.  Its  claims  seem  to  be  contradictory.  It  would  seem  to 
require  the  pastor  to  be  perfect,  and  to  be,  at  the  same  time, 
like  other  men.*  But  we  may  be  certain  that  it  knows  what 
the  pastor  may  and  ought  to  be.  It  is  difficult  to  the  minis- 
ter, as  well  as  to  the  Christian,  to  be  agreeable  to  every  one  ; 
and  we  should  never  forget  the  Scripture,  "  Woe  to  you  when 
all  men  shall  speak  well  of  you  !" — Luke,  vi.,  26.  But  it  is 
possible  for  him  to  render  himself  approved  of  every  one.  He 
may  say  to  the  world  with  St.  Paul,  "We  are  made  manifest 
unto  God,  and  I  trust  also  are  made  manifest  invyour  con- 
sciences."— 2  Cor.,  v.,  11.  In  one  sense  he  must  seek  this 
approbation  :  "  A  pastor,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  must  have  a  good 
report  of  those  who  are  without"  (1  Tim.,  iii.,  7);  with 

*  Isaiah,  xxx.,  10 ;  Matt.,  xi.,  27.    "  We  have  piped  unto  you,  and 
you  have  not  danced ;  we  have  mourned,  and  you  have  not  lamented." 


GRAVITY.  131 

stronger  reason,  doubtless,  of  those  who  are  in  the  Church. 
Thus  the  approbation  of  the  world,  as  to  all  that  of  which 
the  world  can  judge,  is  a  thing  which  the  minister  must  seek, 
and  which  he  may  obtaiih 

It  is  at  once  useful  and  encouraging  to  a  minister  to  bear 
this  in  mind,  while  prescribing  it  to  himself  as  an  end  and  as 
a  supreme  rule,  "  to  render  himself  approved  of  God"  (2 
Tirn.,  ii.,  15),  and  while  he  is  preparing  himself  to  say  to  the 
world,  when  it  condemns  him  for  what  it  does  not  under- 
stand, "  With  me  it  is  a  very  small  thing  to  be  judged  of  you, 
or  of  man's  judgment  of  man"  (1  Cor.,  iv.,  3)  ;  "  If  I  seek  to 
please  men,  I  shall  not  be  the  servant  of  Christ." — Gal.,  i., 
10.  If  severe  consistency  fa  honored  even  in  evil,  much 
more  will  it  be  in  good.  The  condemnation  of  the  world 
for  our  acts  of  fidelity  never  hurts  us,  never  exposes  us  to 
contempt.  There  is  a  glory  in  this  reproach,  while  all  world- 
ly complaisance  or  concession  weakens,  in  every  sense,  our 
ministry,  and  draws  reproach  upon  us. 

Let  us  now  see  what  are  the  principal  traits  under  which 
the  minister  ought  to  exhibit  himself  in  the  general  relations 
of  society. 

$  1.  G-ravity. 

This  quality  makes  a  part  of  the  relative  life.  "  A  bishop 
must  be  grave." — 1  Tim.,  iii.,  2.  This,  as  St.  Paul  says,  is 
one  of  the  first  things ;  it  is  the  first,  as  the  world  says. 

Our  translators  employ  the  words  grave  and  gravity  to 
render, 

Kda/itiof  (1  Tim.,  iii.,  2),  translated  by  Luther,  sittig ;  by 
De  Wette,  anstcendig  ;  and  by  the  English,  of  good  behavior. 

le/zvdf  (1  Tim.,  iii.,  11,  in  speaking  of  the  pastor's  wife), 
translated  by  Luther  and  De  Wette,  ehrbar  ;  and  by  the  En- 
glish, grave. 

Se/uvoTT/f  (Tit.,  xi.,  7),  translated  by  Luther,  ehrbarkeit  ; 
by  De  Wette,  wurde;  and  by  the  English,  gravity. 


132  GRAVITY. 

Gravity,  from  the  word  gravis,  is  the  weight,  more  or  less 
'  considerable,  which  an  interest,  an  evil,  &c.,  possesses.  In 
external  life  and  in  manners  it  is  whatever  announces  that  a 
man  bears  the  weight  of  a  great  thought  or  a  great  respons- 
ibility. The  minister  is  the  depositary  of  so  great  a  thought, 
so  great  a  responsibility,  that  gravity  is  but  decency  in  his 
profession.  It  may  be  defined,  the  impress  of  the  respect  we 
bear  for  the  object  of  our  mission. 

It  is  evident  that  external  gravity  is  true  and  commenda- 
ble only  in  so  far  as  it  answers  to  an  internal  gravity,  which 
is  the  feeling  of  the  weight  of  the  responsibility  with  which  we 
are  charged.  Gravity  is  not  "  a  bodily  mysteriousness,  whose 
end  is  to  hide  the  weakness  of  the  mind."* 

Nothing  is  more  contrary  to  gravity  than  the  affectation 
of  gravity.  "A  too  studied  gravity,"  says  La  Bruyere,  "be- 
comes ludicrous  :  extremities  meet ;  the  mean  between  them 
is  dignity.  That  is  not  being  grave,  but  acting  gravity  :  He 
who  tries  to  be  grave  never  will  be.  Either  there  is  no  grav- 
ity, or  it  is  natural ;  and  it  is  less  difficult  to  descend  from  it 
than  to  arise  to  it."t  But  much  less  must  we  affect  the  con- 
trary. There  have  been  ecclesiastics  who,  wishing  too  much  to 
avoid  alarming,  have  ended  by  compromising.  This  is  seen 
particularly  among  the  Catholics,  because  the  quality  of  the 
priest — his  habits,  his  dress — distinguish  him  from  the  world  ; 
and  the  frivolity  by  which  he  would  remove  the  distinction 
makes  it  more  apparent.  "  Could  we  not  make  persons  of 
a  certain  character,  and  of  a  serious  profession — to  describe 
them  no  further — understand  that  they  need  not  have  it  said 
of  them  that  they  play,  they  sing,  they  joke,  like  other  men  ; 
and  that,  to  see  them  so  pleasant  and  so  agreeable,  one  would 
not  think  they  were  also  so  regular  and  so  strict  ?  Would 
one  even  dare  to  insinuate  to  them,  that,  by  such  manners, 
they  remove  themselves  from  that  politeness  on  which  they 

*  LA  ROCHEFOUCAULD,  Reflexions  Morales,  cclvii. 

t  LA  BRUY£RE,  Let  Caracteret ;  in  the  chapter  Det  Jugemens 


SOCIETY.  133 

pique  themselves  ;  that,  on  the  contrary,  politeness  suits  and 
conforms  externals  to  conditions  ;  that  it  avoids  contrast,  and 
the  exhibition  of  the  same  man  under  different  figures,  which 
make  him  a  fantastic  and  grotesque  compound  ?"* 

Gravity  shows  itself  in  manners  in  general,  and  discourse 
in  particular. 

Under  the  general  idea  of  manners,  I  class  society,  recrea- 
tions, occupations,  and  costume. 

As  to  society — we  should  not,  certainly,  restrict  ourselves  to . 
seeing  only  one  kind  of  persons,  for  fear  of  accrediting  the  false 
idea  that  the  minister  is  not  a  man  ;  but  we  should  still  more 
carefully  avoid  being  seen  every  where.  The  pastor  is  a  so- 
cial man — not  a  man  of  society,  still  less  a  man  of  the  world. 
He  should  make  himself  scarce,  unless  prohibited  by  charity, 
which  alone  is  allowed  to  make  him  common.  A  man  who 
is  seen  every  where  can  not  inspire  respect.  The  judgment 
we  form  of  a  pastor  who  goes  much  into  society  is  not  very 
favorable.  We  suspect  him  of  not  being  sensible  of  his  du- 
ties, and  of  the  need  of  solitude.  Society  multiplies  the  oc- 
casions for  doing  good,  but  much  more  the  temptations  to  do 
evil.  Then  there  are  men  whom  the  pastor  should  see  nei- 
ther at  home  nor  elsewhere.  St.  Paul  charges  Timothy  to 
avoid  certain  persons  :  Men  whose  lives  are  bad,  and,  above 
all,  those  who  have  the  form  of  godliness,  but  deny  its  power. 
—2  Tim.,  iii.,  5. 

More  than  another,  the  minister  should  be  select  as  to  his 
associates.  Others  will  be  critical  for  him,  and  consequently 
severe,  if  he  is  not  so  for  himself.  This  is  important  in  or- 
der not  only  to  preserve  an  exterior,  to  regard  conventional- 
ities, but  to  shun  a  real  danger.  To  ministers,  as  well  as  oth- 
ers, this  maxim  applies  :  "Be  not  deceived  :  evil  communica- 
tions corrupt  good  manners." — 1  Cor.,  xv.,  33.  "Strangers 
have  devoured  his  strength,  and  he  knoweth  it  not ;  yea,  gray 
hairs  are  here  and  there  upon  him,  yet  he  knoweth  not." — 

*  LA  BRUYERE,  Les  Caractem ;  in  the  chapter  DCS  Jugemen*. 


134  SOCIETY. 

Hosea,  vii.,  9.  And  this,  too:  "He  who  loves  danger  will 
perish  in  danger."  How  can  he  seek  bad  society,  when  good 
is  so  necessary  to  him,  and  when  he  can  not  be  too  much  sur- 
rounded, too  much  sustained  by  those  who  fear  God  ? 

Massillon  would  have  a  priest  see  priests  only.  "Permit 
me  here,"  he  says,  "to  repeat  what  St.  Paul  formerly  up- 
braided his  disciples  with,  who,  instead  of  addressing  them- 
selves to  their  brethren,  to  settle  their  disputes,  had  recourse 
to  gentile  judges :  Sic  rum  est  inter  vos  sapiens  quisqtuim  ? 
What !  can  you  not  find  among  your  brethren  wise  and  ami- 
able ministers  to  relax  yourselves  with  from  the  seriousness 
of  your  occupations  ?  Sic  non  est  inter  vos  sapiens  quis- 
quam  ?  Is  it  possible  that,  amid  so  many  ecclesiastics  of 
agreeable  manners,  edifying,  and  creditable  to  you,  you  need 
to  call  the  world  to  your  aid,  and  seek  recreations  where  you 
should  only  be  attending  to  your  functions  and  your  labors  ?"* 
It  would,  however,  be  an  exaggeration  to  hold  one's  self  rig- 
orously to  such  a  rule.  We  must  give  no  countenance  to  the 
melancholy  idea  that  the  minister  is  not  a  man,  nor  deprive 
him  of  what  society  may  give,  may  teach  him. 

Moreover,  the  pastor  has  a  family,  a  domestic  interior, 
which  may,  if  need  be,  take  the  place  of  a  more  various  so- 
ciety. Old  relationships,  contracted  under  unhappy  auspices, 
are  often  very  embarrassing.  We  must  not  disregard  the 
past,  and  break  these  relationships  :  All  is  providential :  God 
may  serve  himself  of  one  to  bless  another.  If  it  be  impossi- 
ble to  preserve  them,  let  them  be  dissolved,  but  without  vio- 
lence. As  to  our  domestic  relationships,  we  must  neither 
break  nor  dissolve,  but  sanctify  them.  The  family  is  the 
pastor's  first  parish. 

Recreations  or  Relaxations. — It  is  difficult,  on  this  sub- 
ject, to  give  very  precise  rules.  When  I  say  that  the  minister 
has  need  of  recreations  as  well  as  another  man  ;  when  I  say 

*  MASSILLON  :  Discours  sur  la  Maniere  dont  les  Ecclesiastiques  dot- 
vent  converter  avec  la  Pertonnes  du  Monde. — Premiere  Reflexion. 


RECREATIONS.  135 

that,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  recreations  which,  in  a 
simple  believer,  give  no  scandal,  but  which,  on  the  part  of 
a  minister,  may  scandalize  the  weak ;  that  all  which  is  law- 
ful is  not  edifying,  and  that  the  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  should 
always  edify  ;  in  short,  that,  to  a  certain  extent,  convention- 
alities vary  with  places,  I  say  the  whole  :  good  sense  must 
supply  the  rest.  Only  let  me  remind  young  candidates  of 
the  apostle's  remark:  "Let  no  man  despise  thy  youth." — 1 
Tim.,  iv.,  12.  Notwithstanding  the  form,  this  is  truly  a  com- 
mand. And,  again,  the  apostle  was  careful  to  say  to  Timo- 
thy, "  Flee  youthful  lusts." — 2  Tim.,  ii.,  22.  This  was  the 
only  means  of  securing  his  youth  against  contempt ;  and  we 
may  suppose  that  these  restrictions  were  more  seasonable  in 
youth  than  afterward.  We  must  take  care  of  indulgence  on 
the  side  to  which  we  are  already  propense.  There  are  amuse- 
ments which  we  must  renounce  :  The  chase,  gaming,  the 
theatre ;  under  a  certain  form,  music,  and,  in  general,  a  pas- 
sionate taste  for  any  art.  None  of  these  things  are  seemly 
in  a  minister ;  the  effect  upon  him  will  not  be  good,  and  it 
will  expose  him  to  censure. 

He  must  avoid,  also,  being  seen,  without  necessity,  in  places 
even  the  most  respectable,  where  the  public  come  to  divert 
themselves.  One  can  not  answer  for  the  company  which' he 
may  find  there,  nor  for  what  may  take  place  there.  The 
minister,  truly,  may  adopt  this  maxim  :  "  It  is  better  to  go 
to  the  house  of  mourning  than  to  the  house  of  feasting ;  for 
that  is  the  end  of  all  men,  and  the  living  will  lay  it  to  his 
heart." — Eccl.,  vii.,  2. 

We  do  not  mean  that  all  these  abstinences  render  him 
who  imposes  them  on  himself  holy.  He  who  does  not  impose 
them  on  himself,  even  though  he  does  wrong  therein,  is  per- 
haps holier  than  one  who  spares  himself  none  of  them.  We 
may  "  strain  at  a  gnat  and  swallow  a  camel." — Matt.,  xxiii., 
24. 

As  to  occupations,  we  do  not  yet  say  that  the  minister,  ac- 


136  COSTUME. 

cording  to  the  apostolic  precept  ( 1  Tirn.,  iv.,  1 5),  should  occupy 
himself  in  these  things  (that  is  to  say,  the  things  of  his  minis- 
try), and  be  always  occupied  in  them.  We  shall  return  to  this 
subject.  But  in  respect  of  gravity,  and  supposing  that  the 
pastor  has  more  leisure  than  generally  belongs  to  him,  we 
say  that  every  occupation  does  not  accord  with  the  gravity  of 
the  ministry.  I  do  not  like  agricultural,  industrial  feats  :  If 
a  minister  has  property,  let  him  take  care  of  it ;  but  let  him 
proceed  in  this  kind  of  work  no  further  than  is  necessary. 
In  things  of  this  kind,  the  mere  reputation  of  aptitude  will 
injure  him. 

Costume,  or  rather  dress  (for  we  do  not  speak  of  the  offi- 
cial costume,  or  of  the  insignia  of  the  pastor,  in  public  func- 
tions)— costume  has  the  double  object  of  impressing  him  who 
wears  it  and  others. 

The  importance  of  this  badge  varies  with  time.  Our  time, 
having  little  liking  for  metaphors  in  social  life,  or,  perhaps, 
seeking  other  symbols  here;  seems  disposed  to  abolish  gradu- 
ally a  solemn  costume.  But  no  one,  as  to  this,  should  be  in 
haste  to  give  an  example.  It  is  in  this  almost  as  with  ne- 
ologisms in  language,  for  costume  is  a  language  :  It  must,  in 
all  cases,  be  freely  accepted.  It  will  always  be  expected 
that  the  dress  of  a  minister,  if  it  be  not  one  worn  only  by 
ministers,  should  have  a  uniform  and  invariable  character ; 
while  a  man  of  any  other  profession  may  vary  his  apparel. 

It  would  be  better,  even,  not  to  wear  costume,  than  in  a 
manner  to  disavow  it  by  negligence  or  impropriety.* 

Gravity  in  Discourse. — To  speak  little  is  the  first  rule  : 
To  joke  little  is  the  second  :f  To  discuss  moderately,  to 

*  Propriety,  a  half  virtue,  which  may  unite  to  itself  a  true  and  whole 
virtue. 

t  Ephesians,  v.,  4.  (Etrr/xMreAia,  scurrilitas). — Nugae  in  aliis  sunt 
nugse,  in  sacerdotibus  blasphemiae. 

ST.  BERNARD  :  Traiti  de  la  Consideration,  liv.  iii.,  chap.  xiii. 
Bien  loin  aussi  le  rire  intemperant : 
Du  rire  amer  il  est  peu  different ; 


GRAVITY    IN    DISCOURSE.  137 

abridge  discussions,  is  the  third  :  Not  to  have  a  loud  voice 
and  high-sounding  speech  is  the  fourth.  "  He  shall  not  cry, 
nor  lift  up  his  voice." — Isaiah,  xlii.,  2.  Calmness  is  impos- 
ing. Peace  is  a  silent  thunder-bolt.  "  The  God  of  peace 
shall  bruise  Satan  under  your  feet." — Rom.,  xvi.,  20.  I  add, 
care  to  speak  of  things  rather  than  of  persons.  I  mean,  not 
only  care  to  avoid  evil  speaking,  which  need  not  be  said,  but 
every  thing  which  savors  of  curiosity,  and  resembles  gossip- 
ing. I  do  not  like,  however,  an  affected  reserve. 

Besides,  we  must  remember  that  the  Christian,  and  with 
greater  reason  the  pastor,  should  speak  according  to  the  ora- 
cles of  God  (which  does  not  mean  only  announcing  the  ora- 
cles of  God),  that  the  word  of  Christ  should  dwell  in  him 
richly  with  all  wisdom  (Col.,  iii.,  16) ;  that  his  words  should 
be  seasoned  with  salt,  and  communicate  grace  to  those  who 
hear  ;  and  that,  if  every  one  will  be  required  to  give  ac- 
count of  the  idle  words  which  he  shall  speak,  this  account 
will  be  yet  more  severe  for  the  pastor.  It  may,  perhaps,  be 
well  to  remark,  that  while  prescribing  to  themselves  a  kind 
of  restraint  when  in  the  world,  ministers  are  sometimes  tempt- 
ed to  be  too  free  among  themselves  :  ecclesiastical  gossiping 
has,  in  certain  countries,  passed  into  a  proverb.* 

I  have  but  little  hope  from  the  official  gravity  of  one  (and 
but  little  respect  for  it)  who,  in  private,  violates  the  decorum 
which  should  never  be  dispensed  with  in  the  most  intimate 
relationships,  though  I  would  by  no  means  deprive  ministers 
of  the  sweets  of  familiar  intercourse. 

Folle  gatte  degenere  en  satire  ; 

Tel,  qui,  d'abord,  ne  riait  que  pour  rire, 

Lance  en  riant  un  trait  (dard)  envenime, 

Et  se  derobe  a  lui-meme,  6  delire  ! 

En  le  pergant,  un  coeur  qui  1'eflt  aime. 

*  "  In  no  profession  are  there  so  many  story-tellers  (Anecdochen 
Kramer)  as  in  the  clerical,  as  there  is  none  that  furnishes  so  many 
anecdotes  as  this." — HARMS.  Whence  this  second  circumstance  1  I 
well  know  that  it  is  so. 


138  SIMPLICITY,    MODESTY. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  be  always  prescribing  rules  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  gravity ;  on  the  contrary,  this  should  never  be  done  ; 
for  gravity,  when  it  is  natural,  comes  from  within. 


§  2.  Simplicity,  Modesty. 

Simplicity  is  opposed  to  affected  dignity  and  reserve  (I 
should  say,  emphasis,  if  this  word  could  be  applied  to  man- 
ners as  it  is  to  language) ;  faults  which  proceed  not  from  an 
excessive  gravity,  but  from  an  undue  sense  of  our  own  im- 
portance and  authority.  We  may,  perhaps,  look  to  the  severe 
strictures  of  the  world  to  correct  this  vanity.  The  official 
character  of  the  pastor  is  every  day  becoming  less  and  less 
imposing  ;  though  every  one  who  is  not  exceedingly  ill  bred 
will  be  disposed  to  accord  to  the  pastor  a  certain  measure  of 
respect,  simply  on  account  of  his  profession  and  his  position 
in  the  civil  community.  The  external  character,  the  dress, 
are  things  of  small  importance,  if  they  have  nothing  within 
to  sustain  them.  We  gain  little,  on  the  contrary  we  lose,  by 
claiming  a  blind  respect,  and  taking  a  rank  in  society  which 
is  not  yielded  to  us.  Clerical  reserve  and  stateliness  impose 
on  but  a  small  number,  and  I  should  not  recommend  them 
even  with  this  small  number.  It  is  unworthy  of  a  minister 
to  use  such  means — not  to  depend  simply  upon  the  truth,  of 
which  he  is  the  organ,  but  to  seem  to  think  that  a  myste- 
rious virtue  attaches  to  him.  Catholic  sermons  demand  re- 
spect for  the  priests,  a  thing  which  can  be  better  understood, 
since  here  the  priest  personifies  religion.  All  this,  moreover, 
may  be  said  without  prejudice  to  authority.  The  minister 
has  not  to  ask  pardon  for  the  truth. 

§  3.  Pacific  Sjririt. 

Is  he  not  a  man  of  peace,  who  is  called  to  "  make  peace" 
(Matt.,  v.,  9)  ?  who  is  a  minister  of  that  wisdom  "  which  is 


.  PACIFIC    8PIK1T*  139 

first  pure,  then  peaceable"  (James,  iii.,  17) ;  who  is  a  dis- 
ciple and  representative  of  Him  who  "  did  not  cry,  nor  con- 
tend, nor  lift  up  his  voice  in  the  streets?"  —  Isaiah,  xlii.,  2. 
Moreover,  knows  he  not,  from  the  Bible  and  from  experience, 
"  that  the  fruit  of  righteousness  is  sown  in  peace  ?" — James, 
iii.,  18.  "If  it  be  possible,  as  much  as  lieth  in  you,  live 
peaceably  with  all  men." — Rom.,  xiii.,  18. 

It  is  precisely  because  his  ministry  is  a  warfare  that  this 
recommendation  is  important.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that, 
as  a  minister,  he  stretches  out  hands  "  all  the  day  long  to  a 
rebellious  and  gainsaying  people"  (Rom.,  x.,  21) ;  that  he  is 
called  to  rebuke  sinners,  and  even  in  certain  cases  to  rebuke 
them  publicly  (1  Tim.,  v.,  20) ;  that,  as  a  minister  and  a 
Christian,  he  appears  upon  a  stage  furrowed  with  contro- 
versies ;  that  there  is  not  a  truth  whose  remembrance  is  not 
interlaced  with  that  of  an  error ;  that  theology  is  hardly  less 
a  discussion  than  an  exposition  ;  that,  if  his  convictions  are 
serious,  he  has  borne  them  away  as  rich  spoils  of  victory,  dip- 
ped in  his  own  blood  ;  and,  in  short,  that  he  will  have,  on 
more  than  one  occasion,  to  defend  the  rights  of  his  ministry. 

St.  Paul  might  very  properly  have  thought  of  all  this  when 
he  said,  "  That  a  bishop  must  not  be  self-willed  (Titus,  i.,  7)  ; 
and  "that  the  servant  of  the  Lord  must  not  love  strife."  — 
2  Tim.,  ii.,  24.  And  this  not  only  includes  litigation,  but  dis- 
putes, useless  or  endless  discussions,  an  impracticable  punc- 
tilious spirit,  the  love  of  trifles.* 

We  can  not  say  that  ministers  are  exempt  from  this  spirit  : 
The  habit  of  living  always  in  the  same  circle  of  ideas,  occu- 
pations, and  persons,  that  of  speaking  without  being  contra- 
dicted, so  that  the  first  and  smallest  contradiction  surprises 
them,  may  contribute  to  it.  The  world  exaggerates,  I  would 
fain  think,  when  it  says  that,  in  general,  they  are  not  dis- 
tinguished by  the  facility  of  their  intercourse,  and  that  they 
are  thorn)  men,  with  whom  one  fears  to  have  to  do ;  but  to 

*  Assemblies  consuming  their  time  in  discussing  small  concerns. 


140  '  GENTLENESS. 

silence  the  world  on  this  point,  it  is  necessary  to  he  of  a  very 
peaceable  spirit.  It  must  he  understood  that  I  speak  here 
of  ordinary  occasions  of  dispute,  arising  from  the  ordinary  re- 
lations of  society,  and  not  of  controversies,  properly  so  called, 
nor  of  the  odium  theologicum,  the  hest  name,  it  is  thought, 
for  hatred  par  excellence  ;  and  with  reason,  too,  for  when  one 
hates  in  the  name  of  God,  he  does  not  hate  by  halves. 

It  is,  surely,  enough  for  a  pastor  to  find  contention  in  the 
precincts  of  his  office,  and  not  to  be  able  to  avoid  it  on  that 
stage :  He  can  not  restrict  himself,  like  other  believers,  "  to 
replying  with  gentleness  and  respect  to  those  who  ask  a  reason 
of  his  hope." — 1  Peter,  iii.,  15.  He  must,  perhaps,  engage 
in  discussion,  if  there  is  every  security  for  seriousness,  order, 
and  decorum:  But,  on  the  one  hand,  he  ought  not  to  "cast 
pearls  before  swine  ;"  on  the  other,  he  is  more  frequently 
called  to  expound  than  to  discuss,  and  he  should  not  too  eas- 
ily give  up  the  first  of  these  positions.  There  is  a  way  of 
retaining  it ;  a  peaceful  spirit  is  not  a  stupid  one. 


§  4.   Gentleness. 

"  Let  your  moderation  be  known  unto  all  men." — Phil., 
iv.,  5.  There  is  something  particularly  imposing  in  gentle- 
ness, since  we  can  not  but  be  struck  with  it  at  the  first  view. 
"We  shall  speak  more  at  large  of  the  charity  of  the  pastor 
when  we  are  to  examine  his  office  ;  it  is  there  that  it  fully 
displays  itself.  Here  we  have  only  to  look  at  his  gentleness, 
that  is  to  say,  his  exhibition  of  obliging,  affable,  prepossessing, 
amiable  qualities  in  the  ordinary  relations  of  society.  He  is 
the  man  of  the  good  God  :  He  is  the  representative  of  mercy  : 
He  ought  not  to  repel,  but  to  attract :  But  all  must  come 
naturally,  without  affectation ;  there  should  be  no  studied 
part ;  for  a  studied  part  in  this  matter  is  never  well  acted 
His  goodness  is  not  soft  and  effeminate,  but  manly.  Better  a 
little  rudeness  than  that  benign  and  paternal  air  which  some 


LOYALTY,  INTEGRITY,  CANDOR.          141 

adopt  in  despite  of  their  nature.  Charity  has  sometimes 
rudeness  for  its  true  form ;  gentleness  is  sometimes  treachery ; 
we  may  exercise  charity  in  vehemence  and  indignation.  But 
a  rude,  magisterial  air,  a  short,  reprimanding  tone,  or  one  of 
impatience,  of  humor,  of  haughtiness,  or  a  want  of  politeness, 
or  even  an  air  of  indifference  and  ennui  (all  things  not  en- 
tirely inconsistent  with  charity),  how  much  will  they  not  in- 
jure the  minister  and  the  ministry ! 


$  5.  Loyalty,  Integrity,  Candor. 

It  was  to  ministers  that  it  was  said,  "  Be  wise  as  serpents, 
and  harmless  as  doves." — Matt.,  x.,  16.  These  two  precepts 
are  presented  in  the  text  as  having  their  ground  in  the  same 
fact ;  namely,  that  the  apostles,  in  the  midst  of  the  world, 
would  find  themselves  as  sheep  in  the  midst  of  wolves.  Jesus 
Christ  hence  inferred  the  double  necessity  of  being  harmless 
and  wise.  Perhaps,  also,  it  must  be  understood  that  he  rec- 
ommends them  to  be  wise,  consistently  with  integrity  and 
candor.  The  first  interpretation  is  more  literal,  the  second 
more  natural.  We  may  admit  them  both.  Candor  is  neces- 
sary, because  wisdom  is  so.  The  minister  knows  better  than 
any  other  what  consequences  a  single  word  may  involve,  and 
consequences,  as  to  him,  are  eternal  and  terrible.  Wisdom 
is  so  strongly  recommended  to  a  minister,  that  we  think  he 
can  not  have  too  much  of  it.  Even  in  the  most  favorable 
circumstances,  the  difficulty  of  his  position  tempts  him  to  be 
prudent  to  excess.  What  dangers  !  Mere  inadvertences,  in- 
consideration,  vivacity,  even  accidentally  neglecting  to  avoid 
the  appearances  of  evil,  proceedings  which  repel  and  alarm, 
indiscretion  in  words,  precipitancy  in  judgments,  ill-placed 
confidence  ;  the  possibility  of  being  engaged  and  drawn  away 
by  what  does  not  pertain  to  him,  and  is  inconsistent  with  his 
character  ;  the  thought  that  there  are  so  many  who,  without 
seeming  to  do  so,  without  saying  any  thing,  have  an  eye  upon 


142          LOYALTY,  INTEGRITY,  CANDOR. 

him,  spy  out  his  first  weakness,  take  note  of  it  in  order  to 
justify  their  opposing  him,  or,  rather,  make  him  their  au- 
thority for  hardening  themselves  after  his  example  to  do  evil, 
or  who  seek  to  put  him  in  contradiction  with  himself,  and 
give  him  a  bad  standing  with  the  world,  with  the  civil  au- 
thority, with  those  of  whom  he  has  the  confidence : — how 
many  things  are  there  to  render  him  not  only  wise,  but  mis- 
trustful, reserved,  and  suspicious  !  If  he  do  not  consider  all 
this,  he  risks  much  ;  if  he  consider  it  too  much,  he  loses  that 
simplicity  of  the  dove  which  is  his  duty,  his  character,  his  first 
interest,  since  public  confidence  is  his  first  want ;  in  short, 
which  on  almost  every  occasion  is  better  than  all  calculations. 
Nothing,  in  fact,  disconcerts  artful  people  like  simplicity  ; 
they  do  not  comprehend  it ;  they  can  not  anticipate  it.  It 
is  impossible  to  estimate  the  influence  of  these  transparent 
characters.  Finesse,  on  the  contrary,  so  inspires  distrust,  that 
even  the  reputation  of  shrewdness  injures  more  than  it  helps 
us  :  We  can  command  the  confidence  of  the  world  only  by  a 
consistent  exhibition  of  the  greatest  candor. 

St.  Paul  deeply  felt  these  truths.  He  testifies  more  than 
once  that  his  conduct  was  without  artifice. — 2  Cor.,  iv.,  2. 
It  rejoices  him  to  say,  that  in  him  there  was  no  yea  and  nay. 
— 2  Cor.,  i.,  18.  He  ventures  to  rebuke  an  apostle  who  did 
not  walk  uprightly. — Gal.,  ii.,  14. 

This  condemns  falsehood,  inaccurate  statements,  dissimu- 
lation, breaking  one's  word,  or  a  facility  in  forgetting  one's 
engagements,  artifices  and  evasions,  an  extreme  reserve,  cen- 
sures or  complaints  in  the  way  of  insinuation,  cowardly  allu- 
sions, groundless  mistrust,  excessive  precautions,  diplomacy, 
which  some  consider  an  honor  to  ministers,  etc. 

Nothing  is  more  opposed  to  candor  than  party  spirit,  which 
believes  only  itself,  never  really  discusses,  hears  only  for  form's 
sake,  neither  allows  that  we  are  wrong,  or  that  we  are  igno- 
rant ;  colors,  palliates,  explains  without  end,  distinguishes 
without  ceasing,  and  thinks  it  is  to  be  strong  and  to  manifest 
power,  never  to  make  a  concession. 


DISINTERESTEDNESS.  143 

§  6.  Disinterestedness* 

Disinterestedness,  certainly,  is  but  one  form  of  a  general 
virtue,  the  abnegation  of  self,  It  is  necessary,  however,  to 
say  something  of  self-denial  in  this  particular— detachment 
from  worldly  gain.  Absolute  disinterestedness  is  complete 
indifference  of  heart  for  temporal  goods.  This  degree  of  per- 
fection is  certainly  too  little  sought  by  the  majority  ;  and  we 
know,  also,  that  it  is  realized  by  no  one  :  But,  nevertheless, 
it  is  an  object  for  which  we  should  strive  ;  and  to  strive  for 
it,  a  pastor,  besides  general  reasons  which  we  shall  not  men- 
tion, has  particular  ones  of  which  we  must  speak. 

1.  The  spirit  of  the  ministry  is  a  spirit  of  consecration. 
The  minister  has  already  renounced  his  life  :  He  has  sacri- 
ficed the  greater,  how  can  he  retain  the  less?      For  him 
were  written  the  words,  "  He  who  putteth  his  hand  to  the 
plow,  and  looketh  back,  is  not  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God." 
— Luke,  ix.,  62.     "  Every  man  that  striveth  is  temperate  in 
all  things." — 1  Cor.,  ix.,  25.     Consecration  is  incompatible 
with  the  love  of  riches.     "  The  hireling  seeth  the  wolf  com- 
ing ;  he  forsaketh  the  sheep,  and  fleeth." — John,  x.,  12. 

2.  Our  mission,  our  avowed  undertaking,  is  to  detach  from 
the  earth  those  to  whom  we  preach.     We  endeavor  to  make 
them  covet  the  happiness  of  the  poor  in  spirit  (or  of  volun- 
tary poverty).     How  can  we  do  this  with  freedom,  with  force, 
with  success,  if  we  ourselves  are  attached  to  those  goods  from 
which  we  would  detach  them  ?     How,  in  proportion  as  we 
preach  detachment,  do  we  increase  our  condemnation  if  we 
remain  ourselves  enchained  tp  the  goods  of  the  present  life  ? 
The  more  we  preach  to  others,  though  it  be  with  success,  shall 
we  not  be  the  more  sure  of  being  cast  away  ? — 1  Cor.,  ix.,  27. 

*  Fr.,  Deafntiressement.  There  is  no  English  word  of  precisely  the 
same  meaning  with  this.  Disinterestedness  is  used  to  avoid  circum- 
locution. The  exact  meaning  of  it  here  will  not  be  mistaken  by  the 
reader. — TV. 


144  DISINTERESTEDNESS. 

3.  We  are  representatives  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  made  him- 
self poor. — 2  Cor.,  viii.,  9.     Was  it  without  meaning  that 
he  made  himself  poor  ?     Was  it  not  enough  to  become  man  ? 
He  had  not  what  the  birds  Iwd,  a  nest ;   nor  the  foxes,  a 
hole  :  he  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head.     A  single  passage 
in  the  Gospel  speaks  of  a  place  where,  at  a  certain  time, 
Jesus  Christ  dwelt ;  and  nothing  leads  us  to  think  that  it 
was  more  than  a  temporary  abode. — John,  i.,  38,  39. 

4.  We  are  representatives  of  Christianity,  the  spirit  of 
which  is  not  to  depend  on  the  visible,  but  on  the  invisible, 
and  which  seeks  security  where  others  think  to  find  danger, 
I  mean  in  a  precarious  situation.*     Can  we  have  a  spirit 
different  from  it,  and  yet  represent  it  faithfully,  seeking  not 
security  only,  which  even  is  perhaps  too  much,  but  comfort, 
superfluity,  and  wealth  ? 

5.  The  minister  is  the  great  almoner  of  the  Church.     Dis- 
tributor of  the  wealth  of  others,  he  ought  also  to  do  as  much 
as  possible  from  his  own  means ;  even  when  it  would  seem 
that  he  might  be  a  receiver,  it  will  be  expected  of  him  to 
give.     Now  the  love  of  worldly  good  excludes  charity  and 
alms-giving. 

6.  It  was  said  directly  to  ministers,  "  The  love  of  money  is 
the  root  of  all  evil  ;  which,  while  some  coveted  after,  they 
have  erred  from  the  faith  ;  but  thou,  0  man  of  God,  flee 
these  things."^!  Tim.,  vi.,  10,  11.     We  may  well  say,  sure- 
ly, Have  erred  from  the  faith,  since  Judas  for  silver  betrayed 

*  Jesus  Christ  desired  ministers  who  would  of  choice  and  from 
love  fulfill  the  office  of  embassadors :  But  how  do  the  prospects  of 
fortune,  and  even  too  much  security  for  the  future,  tend  to  obscure 
the  evidence  of  their  vocation  1  Precariousness  is  the  soul  of  every 
thing  pertaining  to  Christianity,  and  works  of  faith  prosper  only  by 
the  principle  which  has  given  them  existence.  It  was  to  consecrate 
this  principle  that  Jesus  Christ  made  himself  poor  in  every  sense,  that 
his  disciples  did  so  after  him,  and  that  St.  Paul  lived  from  the  work  of 
his  hands ;  "  wearying  himself  even  by  working  with  his  own  hands.'' 
—1  Cor.,  iv.,  12. 


_^_          DISINTERESTEDNESS.  145 

his  master.  This  avarice  is  the  principle  of  unfaithfulness 
and  prevarication.  It  is  very  remarkable  that  the  fear  of 
prison  and  of  death  has  made  fewer  apostates  than  the  love 
of  money.  But  without  speaking  of  formal  apostasy,  we  may 
say  that  no  vice  is  so  destructive  of  virtue,  or  more  incom- 
patible with  all  elevation  of  soul  and  spirit.*  It  is,  perhaps, 
the  most  absorbing  passion:  "Greediness  of  gain  takes  away 
the  soul  of  those  who  are  addicted  to  it." — Prov.,  i.,  19. 

7.  Again,  nothing  more  estranges  the  heart  and  destroys 
confidence  than  avarice ;  I  say  not  scandalous  avarice,  but 
the  first  appearance  of  it,  or  even  the  mere  thought  that  disin- 
terestedness is  wanting.     The  mercenary  pastor  draws  around 
him  only  mercenary  souls  like  himself.     "  The  sheep  will  not 
follow  a  stranger." — John,  x.,  5.     The  living  will  seek  for 
the  living,  the  dead  will  stay  with  the  dead.     While,  on  the 
contrary,  disinterestedness  convinces  before  examination,  im- 
plies sincerity,  and  presupposes  truth.     Charity,  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world,  covers  a  multitude  of  sins. 

8.  Frankness  readily  deserts  him  who  is  held  in  the  igno- 
ble bonds  of  interest,  not  only  because  interest  weakens  in  us 
the  principle  of  this  virtue,  but  because  it  is  not  always  pos- 
sible to  be  frank  when  we  are  not  independent.     A  secret,  dis- 
honorable instinct  impels  us  to  management  even  when  it  is 
useless. 

9.  Even  the  appearance  of  this  vice  is  to  be  dreaded,  be- 
cause it  is  the  first  thing  which  infidels  suspect  or  espy  in 
those  who  believe.     This  is  natural :  Religion  is  so  powerful 
that  it  engages  us  to  make  all  sacrifices  in  favor  of  eternity; 
and  these  sacrifices  are  made  with  ease,  and  they  are  often 
made  to  the  profit  of  those  who  represent  the  interest  or  the 
idea  of  eternity. 

In  all  human  religions,  it  has  been  seen  that  the  supersti- 
tious terrors  of  the  human  heart  have  been  made  to  subserve 

*  "  Nihil  est  tarn  angusti,  tamque  parvi  quam  amare  divitias." — 
CICERO  :  De  OJficiis,  lib.  i. 

G 


:;<* 
r->*» 


148  DISINTERESTEDNESS. 

the  cupidity  of  certain  individuals.  St.  Paul  readily  recog- 
nized that  there  were,  and  always  would  be,  persons  who 
make  piety  a  means  of  wealth,  and  he  exhorts  Timothy  to 
separate  himself  from  them,  more,  unquestionably,  by  a  life 
different  from  theirs,  than  by  care  to  shun  their  company. — 1 
Tim.,  vi.,  5.  He  stigmatizes,  no  doubt,  sordid  and  hypocrit- 
ical ministers  in  2  Tim.,  iii.,  6,7:  "  Of  this  number  are  those 
who  creep  into  houses,  and  lead  captive  silly  women,  laden 
with  sins,  possessed  with  divers  lusts  ;  ever  learning,  and  nev- 
er able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth."  After,  as 
well  as  before  the  time  of  Jesus  Christ,  there  were  those  "  who 
devoured  widows'  houses,  and  for  a  pretense  made  long  pray- 
ers."— Matt.,  xxiii.,  14.  We  do  not  see  these  scandals  about 
us,  but  yet  they  are  possible,  and  they  sometimes  appear  in 
another  form.  A  pastor  may  take  advantage  of  his  influence 
over  his  charge  to  indulge  in  pleasures  which  should  be  re- 
pressed. This  makes  the  world  suspicious  :  they  are  very 
apt  to  think  that  ministers  are  covetous  ;  whether  it  be  that 
this  is  the  vice  which  oftenest  appears,  or  that  it  is  the  one, 
in  fact,  to  which  we  are  most  liable,  it  is  that  of  which  the 
world  most  frequently  accuses  us.  The  minister,  by  watch- 
fulness, may  readily  avoid  certain  deviations,  but  avarice  glides 
easily  into  the  heart ;  and  there  are  many  ministers  who  ex- 
pose themselves  to  this  reproach,  if  no  other.  Wrongly  or 
rightly,  it  is  often  ascribed  to  them.* 

We  must  not  be  surprised  that  St.  Paul  directed  himself 

*  "  This  vice,  it  would  seem,  is  a  curse  attached  to  the  priesthood." 
—  MASSILLON,  neuvieme  discours  synodal:  DC  V Avarice  des  Pretres. 
"  The  world  regards  almost  all  of  us  as  infected,  soiled  by  this  hide- 
ous leprosy.  A  priest  and  a  covetous  man  it  regards  as  identical." — 
MASSILLON,  troizieme  discours  synodal :  De  la  Compassion  des  Pauvres. 

"  Episcopi  plurimi,  quos  et  ornamento  esse  oportet  caeteris  et  exem- 
plo,  divina  procuratione  contempta,  procuratores  rerum  saecularium 
fieri ;  deritecta  cathedra,  plebe  deserta,  per  alienas  provincias  ober- 
rantes,  negotiationis,  qusesturse  nundinas  ancupari." — CYPRIAN,  De 
Laptit. 


DISINTERESTEDNESS.  147 

particularly  to  this  point.  He  saw  the  danger  ministers  were 
in  of  falling  into  avarice,  and  the  danger  of  their  being  ac- 
cused of  it.  He  anticipated  this  double  evil.  He  was  not 
content  with  saying,  "  That  a  bishop  must  not  be  given  to 
filthy  lucre." — Tit.,  i.,  7.  He  contends  more  forcibly,  by  in- 
direct means,  but  especially  by  his  example,  which,  humble 
as  he  is,  he  ventures  to  set  forth  and  remark  upon  :  "  We 
have  wrought  with  labor  and  travail,  night  and  day,  that  we 
might  not  be  chargeable  to  any  of  you,"  etc. — 2  Thess.,  hi., 
8,  9.  See,  also,  1  Cor.,  iv.,  12.  In  the  ninth  chapter  of  the 
first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  the  apostle  recognizes,  as  he 
does  elsewhere  (1  Tim.,  v.,  17, 18),  the  duty  of  believers  to  as- 
sist their  pastors  ;  but  he  renounces  for  himself  all  advantage 
from  this  right.  In  verses  14—19,  of  the  twelfth  chapter  of 
the  second  epistle  which  he  addresses  to  them,  he  abandons 
every  sort  of  right ;  he  gives  without  any  hope  or  any  claim 
of  requital. 

In  taking  leave,  at  Miletus,  of  the  pastors  of  Ephesus,  Paul 
reminds  them  of  his  conduct  in  this  respect,  and  thence  de- 
duces for  them  this  lesson :  "  I  have  coveted  no  man's  sil- 
ver or  gold,  or  apparel ;  yea,  ye  yourselves  know  that  these 
hands  have  ministered  unto  my  necessities,  and  to  them  who 
were  with  me.  I  have  showed  you  all  things,  how  that  so 
laboring  ye  ought  to  support  the  weak,  and  to  remember 
the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  how  he  said,  It  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive." — Acts,  xx.,  33-35.  And  this  truly 
was  the  spirit  of  pastors  in  the  primitive  Church,  and  of 
bishops  long  afterward,  who  gave  away  all  their  goods. 

All  Scripture  brands  avarice  as  a  vice  the  most  fatal  to 
the  ministry.  It  makes  "  hireling"  a  name  for  a  bad  minis- 
ter.* 

*  Numerous  passages  of  Holy  Scripture  against  avaricious  or  mer- 
cenary pastors  :  Isaiah,  Ivi.,  11 ;  Jer.,  vi.,  13  ;  Ezek.,  xxxiv.,  1,  3  ; 
Micah,  iii.,  11;  Matt.,  xv.,  5,  6;  xxiii.,  14. — Passages  collected  by 
BRIDGES. 


148  AVARICE. 

After  showing  the  importance  of  avoiding  avarice,  let  us 
say  that  it  is  a  vice  by  which  we  are  incessantly  beset.  Not 
without  reason  did  our  Savior  say  :  "  Take  heed,  and  beware 
of  covetousness"  (Luke,  xii.,  15)  ;  and  desired  his  apostles  to 
take  no  purse  with  them.  Judas,  nevertheless,  carried  the 
bag  ;  there  was  then  a  steward,  but  this  does  not  impair  our 
rule. 

1 .  This  vice  may  glide  into  our  heart  under  favorable  ap- 
pearances the  best  fitted  to  deceive  us,  by  pretexts  the  best 
fitted  to  seduce  us,  and  by  the  most  insensible  gradations. 
We  may  be  prodigal,  and  at  the  same  time  avaricious,  and 
the  first  of  these  vices  may  deceive  us  as  to  the  second.    We 
may  be  decidedly,  and  for  a  long  time  avaricious,  without  sus- 
pecting it.     Of  all  sophisms,  none  does  more  evil  than  that 
we  owe  all  our  wealth  to  our  children ;  we  forget  that,  be- 
fore all,  we  owe  it  to  God.     With  many  people,  avarice  is  a 
mental  mistake,  joined,  it  is  true,  to  a  malady  of  the  heart. 
Francis  de  Sales  says  that,  in  the  whole  course  of  his  practice 
as  a  confessor,  he  heard  no  one  blame  himself  with  avarice. 

2.  It  is  a  vice  which  inherits  from  all  others,  and  in  which 
is  concentrated  every  unlawful  desire  of  the  heart.    It  grows 
with  years  ;  we  may  be  avaricious  when  we  are  no  longer 
able  to  indulge  other  passions. 

3.  It  is  the  vice  most  compatible  with  the  outward  forms 
of  Christianity,  with  decency,  and  a  certain  gravity  of  man- 
ners, although  there  is  a  point  at  which  it  becomes  scandal- 
ous.    Paul  doubtless  considered  it  as  having  reached  this 
point  when  he  said,  "  If  one  called  a  brother  is  avaricious, 
do  not  eat  with  such  a  man." — 1  Cor.,  v.,  11.    Avarice  then 
might  more  easily  become  scandalous  than  now,  by  its  con- 
trast with  that  disinterestedness  which  led  the  brethren  to 
have  all  things  in  common.     This  is  not  the  case  with  us, 
and  now  it  is  more  difficult  to  detect  this  vice. 

4.  It  is  the  vice  to  which  we  are  most  exposed  by  our  po- 
sition, which  peremptorily  cuts  us  off  from  all  other  vices, 


AVARICE.  149 

and  permits  us  this  one  ;  it  seems  in  some  way  to  breathe  it- 
self into  us,  by  means  of  those  petty  calculations  to  which  it 
forces  us. 

5.  Finally,  it  is  the  vice  most  difficult  to  eradicate.  Once 
give  it  footing,  reason,  ridicule,  self-love,  modesty,  can  not  pre- 
vail against  it.* 

What  the  duty  of  disinterestedness  includes  : 

1 .  Not  to  embrace  the  ministry  from  motives  of  interest : 
"  Taking  the  oversight  of  the  flock  of  God,  not  for  unlawful 
gain  (filthy  lucre),  but  of  a  ready  mind." — 1  Peter,  v.,  2. 
The  unlawful  gain  of  which  St.  Peter  speaks  is  gain  coveted. 
This  unlawful  gain  is  well  commented  on  in  these  words : 
"  Freely  ye  have  received  ;  freely  give." — Matt.,  x.,  8.    The 
supplies  of  believers,  then,  though  due  to  them,  are  not  a  sal- 
ary, but  a  subsidy — a  succor.    "  Those  who  serve  the  altar  are 
partakers  with  the  altar." — 1  Cor.,  ix.,  13.    The  idea  of  gra- 
tuity then  remains,  and  we  have  seen  how  St.  Paul  labored 
to  consecrate  it  by  his  example.    The  hireling  is  likened  to  a 
thief. — John,  x.     Micah,  after  having  said,  in  order  to  show 
the  iniquity  of  Jerusalem,   "  The  heads  thereof  judge  for 
rewards,"  adds,  "the  priests  thereof  teach  for  hire,  and  the 
prophets  thereof  divine  for  money." — Mic.,  iii.,  11.     Our  in- 
stitutions, in  this  respect,  offer  advantages.     One  may,  in- 
deed, become  a  minister  for  the  sake  of  the  prebend  ;  but  no 
bait  is  offered  to  cupidity  ;  he  is  made  to  wait  long  for  the 
ease  which  is  promised  him.f     We  may  then  readily  apply 
to  the  minister  these  words  of  the  Savior  :  "  Ye  seek  me  not 
because  ye  saw  the  miracles,  but  because  ye  did  eat  of  the 
loaves  and  were  filled." — John,  vi.,  26. 

2.  Not  to  take  advantage  of  our  position  for  the  sake  of 

*  Imagination  has  to  do  with  this  vice.  See  Advices  of  Madame 
GUIZOT,  Education  Domestique,  Letter  xxxi. 

t  Tandem  respicit  inertem  sera  tamen.  "  Ease  is  seen  at  length,  but 
late,  by  him  who  does  nothing  to  acquire  it."  Allusion  to  the  27th 
verse  of  the  first  Eclogue  of  Virgil. — Ed. 


150  RULES    RELATIVE    TO    DISINTERESTEDNESS. 

gain.  This  sort  of  selfish  calculation  is  not  always  possible. 
Nevertheless,  the  independence  of  the  ministry  may  be  easily 
compromised  by  those  cajoleries,  those  presents,  which  can  not 
always  be  refused.*  Affection,  even  delicacy,  may  sometimes 
require  that  they  be  accepted ;  but  one  "  should  guard  him- 
self well,  lest  he  be  penetrated  with  the  love  of  gain." 

3.  Not  to  seek,  in  foreign  occupations  which  are  not  suit- 
able to  us,  the  means  of  improving  our  position. 

4.  To  be,  in  money  matters,  as  free  and  liberal  as  our  po- 
sition will  admit. 

As  to  the  means  of  being  disinterested  :  There  is  an  econ- 
omy which  preserves  us  from  avarice  or  its  paroxysms ;  for 
prodigality  and  disorder  often  make  us  avaricious.  It  is  with 
money  as  with  time  :  he  who  manages  it  the  best  has  the 
most  to  give  to  others.  In  the  same  way,  also,  a  man  of 
economy  is  in  the  best  condition  to  be  liberal  on  appropriate 
occasions.  To  be  disinterested,  we  must  have  no  expensive 
fancies,  and  not  be  too  much  taken  up  with  the  things  of 
sense,  of  the  flesh,  or  vanity.  Certain  habits  procure  so  little 
pleasure  to  many  of  those  who  give  themselves  up  to  them, 
that  one  might  say  that  they  are  sought  as  a  means  of  try- 
ing new  modes  of  existence,  or  of  multiplying,  not  their  en- 
joyments, but  their  sensations. 

This  means  supposes  another,  which  is  the  chief  and  the 
only  efficacious  one  :  This  is  charity.  We  may  correct  a  vice 
by  a  virtue.  It  is  necessary  to  displace  avarice,  according 
to  a  beautiful  thought  of  Gluesnel,  who  says  that  "  the  pas- 
sion of  always  gaining  more  souls  to  God  is  the  only  avarice 
permitted  to  a  pastor." 

The  maxims  of  the  Catholic  Church  on  this  subject  are  re- 
markable. "  The  good  pastor,"  says  St.  Cyran,  "  loves  the 
poor,  and  bestows  upon  them  the  whole  of  his  goods. "t 

*  These  are  but  casual ;  nevertheless,  private  religious  instruction ; 
in  some  places,  funeral  services,  marriages,  &c. 
t  SAINT  CYRAN  :  Pens'ees  tur  le  Saccrdoce. 


GENERAL    INFLUENCE.  151 

The  Catholic  Church  reproaches  the  priests  who  have  prop- 
erty.* Many  have  even  maintained  that,  according  to  the 
example  of  the  bishops  of  the  early  age,  the  priest  should 
onca  for  all  deprive  himself  of  every  thing.  Duguet  repress- 
es this  idea,  but  with  caution  and  deference.!  It  is  evident 
that  the  unmarried  pastor  is  more  free  in  this  respect  than 
the  pastor  who  is  married.  The  latter  ought  not  to  deprive 
himself  of  his  goods,  but  to  use  them,  and  to  administer  them 
himself  according  to  the  will  of  God  who  has  given  them  to 
him.  Jesus  Christ  said  to  his  Father,  "I  pray  not  that  thou 
shouldst  take  them  out  of  the  world,  but  that  thou  shouldst 
keep  them  from  the  evil." — John,  xvii.,  15. 

§  7.   T/te  Minister  in  Relation  to  the  general  Interests  of 
Society. 

We  have  shown  under  what  characteristics  the  pastor 
should  appear,  and  how  he  should  announce  himself.  It  is 
every  one's  duty  to  preach  by  example.  It  remains  to  ask 
what,  apart  from  his  pastoral  functions,  should  he  be  in  his 
relations  to  general  society.  Does  he  belong  only  to  his  par- 
ish ?  does  he  belong  only  to  religion  ?  Should  he  remain  a 
stranger  to  the  high  interests  of  society  ? 

It  appears  at  first  that,  as  religion  adopts  the  whole  of  hu- 
man life  in  order  to  elevate  it,  the  pastor,  who  is  the  most 
perfect  representative  of  religion,  ought,  in  the  same  degree, 
to  be  a  representative  of  human  life. 

There  are  striking  instances  of  priests  and  monks,  who 
were  distinguished  as  instruments  of  civilization,  promoters 
of  science,!  etc. 

*  See,  on  this  point,  MASSILLON,  in  many  passages,  and,  for  exam- 
ple, in  his  synodal  discourse,  Sur  la  Compassion  des  Pauvres. 

t  Lettres  sur  di/erents  Sujets  de  Morale  et  de  Piete,  t.  ii.,  p.  6  et  22. 

t  See  MALTE-BRUN  :  Melanges  Scientifiques  et  Litteraires,  tome  j., 
page  324  (On  the  Norwegian  Clergy). 


152  SPECIAL    ACTIVITY. 

The  nature  of  his  studies  and  the  exercise  of  his  functions 
develop  faculties  in  the  minister  which,  in  the  different 
spheres  of  human  life,  find  an  abundant  application. 

Talleyrand  has  said  that  nothing  so  prepares  one  for  di- 
plomacy as  theology.*  In  fact,  the  studies  of  the  ministry  are 
more  comprehensive  than  all  others  ;  the  study  of  theology 
is  more  humanizing  than  any  other,  even  than  that  which 
has  social  interest  and  social  affaire  for  its  object. 

We  agree  to  all  this,  and  we  acknowledge  that  duties  may 
vary  with  times ;  but  we  must  make  the  following  reserva- 
tions : 

1.  Religion  is  a  speciality.     It  embraces  every  thing,  it 
penetrates  every  thing,  but  it  is  not  every  thing  ;  it  is  itself. 
To  connect  itself  usefully  with  the  things  of  life,  it  must  sep- 
arate itself  from  them.     Christianity  has  been  in  no  haste  to 
mix  itself  with  the  life  of  the  people,  or,  where  it  has  done 
so,  it  has  been  dynamically,  as  a  spirit.     It  should  be  the 
same  with  each  individual.     He  must  be  well  rooted  at  the 
centre,  to  spread  his  shade  over  the  circumference.     Let  the 
minister  be  first  of  all  occupied  with  his  own  affairs  ;  let  him 
be  solely  a  Christian  and  a  minister  :  As  a  consequence,  his 
branches  will  spread  out,  and  his  beneficent  shade  extend  it- 
self over  all  the  affairs  of  society. 

2.  There  is,  in  the  direct  and  immediate  purpose  of  the 
ministry,  so  much  good  to  be  done,  that  one  need  not  run 
after  indirect  good.     The  minister  should  seek  to  give  a  point 
of  rest  to  the  human  family,  and  this  resting-point  is  religious 
truth  :  When  humanity  shall  have  found  it,  then  it  will  march 
directly  to  its  destination.     The  minister  may  honor  his  mis- 
sion by  conferring  external   advantages ;   still,  when  there 
are  others  to  do  this,  let  him  confine  himself  to  his  calling. 
He  may  employ  himself  in  agriculture,  when  it  is  necessary, 
also  in  schools,  and  in  religious  music  ;    but,  before  every 
thing,  he  should  be  about  his  ministry.     Nevertheless,  when 

*  Eloge  du  Comte  de  Reinhard. 


QUESTION    AS    TO    POLITICS,  153 

it  is  his  duty  to  act,  as  did  Oberlin  and  Felix  NefF,  by  all 
means  let  him  do  it  without  hesitation  ! 

3.  Is  it  not  an  advantage  for  the  minister  to  be  compro- 
mised in  nothing,  and  to  be  able  to  come  in  as  an  arbiter  in 
every  thing,  being,  as  he  will  be  in  that  case,  personally  aloof 
from  every  thing  ?     If,  on  the  contrary,  he  interferes  too  read- 
ily in  the  things  that  do  not  concern  his  ministry,  he  will 
often  find  himself  a  judge  and  a  party,  and  will  no  longer  be 
able  to  pronounce  so  impartially. 

4.  The  danger  to  religion  is  great  when  a  minister,  as  a 
minister,  mixes  himself  with  temporal  interests,  and  gives  to 
religion  a  kind  of  authority  and  competency  which  is  incon- 
sistent with  it.     What  stains  will  it  receive  ! 

Let  us  touch  upon  a  particular  point — politics.  Let  us  dis- 
tinguish it  from  patriotism,  which,  if  not  a  Christian  virtue, 
is  at  least  an  affection  which  Christianity  adopts  and  sanc- 
tifies, and  a  duty  to  which,  as  to  all  others,  it  lends  the  force 
of  its  teachings  :  Jesus  Christ  experienced  this  affection  ;  Je- 
sus Christ  has  recognized  this  sentiment ;  and  St.  Paul  in  like 
manner.*  Participation  in  political  affairs  is  neither  the  only 
nor  the  best  mark  which  a  citizen  can  give  of  his  patriotism  ; 
it  is  one  among  other  specialities  that  we  do  not  think  forbid- 
den to  Christians,  but  it  is  by  no  means  imposed  upon  them. 

It  has  seemed  desirable  to  some  persons  that  ministers 
should  engage  in  politics.!  I  do  not  think  it  the  part  of  a 
pastor ;  as  for  one  who  has  no  longer  the  care  of  souls,  and 
who  has  become  a  politician,  he  changes  his  career,  that  is 

*  Romans,  ix.,  1-5. 

t  "  Nothing  in  the  interests  of  humanity,"  says  M.  Naville, "  appears 
to  be  a  greater  mistake  than  to  wish  to  banish  from  assemblies,  from 
theatres,  from  debates,  and  the  periodical  press,  from  the  spheres 
where  thoughts  and  sentiments  are  agitated,  the  very  men  whose 
presence  and  influence  are  required  to  give  them  a  salutary  result." 
— Memoire  sur  I' Amour  de  la  Patrie  Suisse,  p.  98,  99  :  Geneve,  1839. 
See,  also,  the  work  of  Dr.  BROWN,  The  Late  of  Christ  respecting  civil 
Obedience,  p.  2528. 


154  POLITICAL    ACTIVITY. 

all.  It  is  not  for  us  to  judge  him  ;  and,  in  general,  we  would 
not  condemn  him  ;  we  must  suppose  that  he  has  renounced 
the  ministry  proper,  for  which  these  occupations  are  far  from 
preparing  him.  But  how  can  a  pastor  intermeddle  with 
politics  without  destroying  his  success,  and  even  his  respect- 
ability as  a  minister  ? 

I  do  not  speak  precisely  of  the  presence  of  pastors  in  as- 
semblies representing  the  nation  :  That  does  not  constitute  a 
political  career;  but,  in  general,  they  are,  when  there,  hardly 
in  their  place.*  It  would  not,  perhaps,  be  just  to  exclude 
them  ;  but  they  would  do  well  voluntarily  to  exclude  them- 
selves. There  is  too  great  a  distance  between  the  political 
and  the  pastoral  life  :  Pastors  do  not  acquire,  from  the  ex- 
ercise of  their  functions,  the  kind  of  spirit  which  these  assem- 
blies demand,  nor  reciprocally  :  We  should  expect  to  see  them 
preaching  there  :  As  to  religious  questions,  which  should  never 
be  discussed  there,  there  is  no  need  of  the  presence  of  minis- 
ters in  order  that  they  may  be  well  treated  :  The  stains  of 
political  discussion  are  too  easily  seen  on  the  pastoral  robe — 
ministers  can  not  avoid  hearing  things  there  which  their  pro- 
fession at  the  same  time  urges  and  forbids  them  to  answer. 

There  is  another  way,  and  there  are  other  channels,  through 
which  religion  may  infuse  itself  into  politics. 

Politics,  in  promoting  religion,  has  forced  religion  to  promote 
politics ;  but  both,  in  this  course,  have  been  corrupted,  and 
the  second  more  than  the  first.  Burnet,  who  knew  how  to 
speak  on  this  subject,  has  some  remarks  on  the  injury  which 
religion  does  itself  by  mixing  itself  with  politics  (a  thing  in- 
evitable, I  affirm,  in  the  union  of  Church  and  State),  which 
I  will  cite  here  :  "  Politics  and  parties  eat  out  among  us 
not  only  study  and  learning,  but  the  only  thing  which  is  still 
more  valuable  than  study  and  learning;  I  mean, religious  sen- 
timent, and  a  sincere  zeal  to  obtain  results  for  which  the  Son 

*  It  is  not  even  seen  that  the  deliberations  of  ecclesiastical  bodies 
are  profitable  to  them. 


POLITICAL    ACTIVITY.  155 

of  God  was  willing  to  live  and  die,  and  to  which  those  who 
are  engaged  in  his  service  have  promised  to  consecrate  their 
lives  and  their  labors."  In  short,  let  us  not  condemn  before- 
hand all  extension  of  the  ministry,  nor  undertake  to  define 
its  limit ;  we  think  that,  at  the  exigency  of  the  times,  it  is 
susceptible  of  an  indefinite  extension  ;  but  these  times  have 
their  signs,  which  it  is  necessary  to  attend  to  and  to  under- 
stand.* 

*  Is  the  ministry,  as  it  is  now  understood  and  practiced,  restricted 
within  the  limits  of  the  primitive  ministry  t 


156  DOMESTIC   LIFE    OF    THE    MINISTER. 


CHAPTER  II. 

DOMESTIC    LIFE    OF    THE'  MINISTER. 

§  1.  General  Reflections — Marriage  and  Celibacy — Tlie 
Pastor's  Wife. 

THE  Gospel  is  not  silent  on  this  subject  :  "  A  bishop  must 
be  blameless,  the  husband  of  one  wife,  sober,  prudent,  grave, 
hospitable,  apt  to  teach  ;  one  that  ruleth  well  his  own  house, 
having  his  children  in  subjection  with  all  decorum ;  for  if  a 
man  know  not  how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how  shall  he  take 
care  of  the  Church  of  God  ?  Even  so  must  their  wives  be 
grave,  not  slanderers,  sober,  faithful  in  all  things." — 1  Tim., 
iii.,  2,  4,  5,  11.  "For  this  cause  left  I  thee,  that  thou 
shouldst  ordain  pastors  ;  if  any  be  blameless,  the  husband  of 
one  wife,  having  faithful  children,  not  accused  of  riot,  or  un- 
ruly. For  a  bishop  must  be  blameless,  as  the  steward  of 
God ;  not  self-willed,  not  soon  angry,  not  given  to  wine,  no 
striker,  not  given  to  dishonest  gain  ;  but  a  lover  of  hospital- 
ity, a  lover  of  good  men,  wise,  just,  holy,  temperate." — Tit, 
i.,  5-8. 

These  passages  suppose  the  minister  to  be  married,  and  to 
be  a  father  of  a  family  ;  but  they  do  not  strictly  prescribe 
marriage  to  a  pastor.  If  it  be  said  that  this  is  necessary  to 
his  being  in  all  things  "  an  example  of  the  believers,"*  we 
reply  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  be  in  this  particular  state 
in  order  to  be  an  example  to  those  who  are  in  it.  This  sup- 
position would  be  absurd,  and  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  which  does  not  confine  us  within  these  literal  rules  ; 

*  "  Be  thou  an  example  of  the  believers,  in  word,  in  conversation, 
in  charity,  in  spirit,  in  faith,  in  purity." — 1  Tim.,  iv.,  12.  "  In  all 
things  showing  thyself  a  pattern  of  good  works." — Tit.,  ii.,  7. 


MARRIAGE    AND    CELIBACY.  157 

of  which  we  have  a  proof,  for  example,  in  the  forms  under 
which  the  four  evangelists  relate  the  same  fact.  We  every 
where  meet  in  the  Gospel  with  the  same  large  and  liberal 
character.  Our  Lord  is  none  the  less  a  model  to  us  in  all 
things,  although  he  sustained  only  the  general  relations  of 
humanity.  In  short,  St.  Paul,  the  author  of  all  the  passages 
which  we  have  now  cited,  was  himself  an  unmarried  man. 

St.  Paul,  who  has  claimed  the  right  of  marriage  for  all,  has 
no  less  honored  celibacy,  recommending  it  not  merely  as  con- 
venient in  times  when  the  Church  was  in  peril,  but  as  a 
means  of  more  perfect  devotion  to  God. — 1  Cor.,  vii.,  32,  35. 
He  does  but  reproduce  the  thought  of  Christ  himself. — Matt., 
xix.,  10—12.  In  giving  these  counsels  of  perfection,  the  uni- 
versal realization  of  which  would  be  incompatible  with  the 
existence  of  society,  he  falls  into  no  contradiction  with  him- 
self, since,  if  this,  should  be  so  realized,  the  society  of  earth 
would  simply  become  the  society  of  heaven.  Celibacy,  in 
the  spirit  in  which  Jesus  Christ  practiced  it,  would  not  in- 
jure the  world  ;  and  this  is  the  only  point  about  which  there 
is  a  question  ;  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ  give  us  well  enough 
to  understand  that  such  a  celibacy  would  never  be  more  than 
a  rare  exception. 

St.  Paul,  and  his  Master  before  him,  in  the  passages  we 
have  now  cited,  had  in  view  no  particular  class  in  the  Church ; 
but  still  a  counsel  of  perfection  to  the  Church  must  have  spe- 
cial regard  to  pastors. 

When  a  minister  shall  find  himself  disposed  to  celibacy  by 
a  special  impulse  of  the  spirit,  let  him  not  fear  to  be,  on  that 
account,  less  useful  to  the  Church ;  for  marriage  might  not 
render  him  more  useful,  perhaps  it  would  less,  than  a  pure 
and  devoted  celibacy.  And  perhaps  it  is  to  be  regretted,  if 
not  that  there  are  so  few  unmarried  ministers,  at  least  that 
there  are  not  more  who  feel  in  themselves  a  disposition  for 
this  state.  There  are  times  and  situations  in  which  an  un- 
married minister  could  render  to  the  Church  services  which 


158  MARRIAGE    AND    CELIBACY. 

a  married  one  could  not  render  so  well.  Men  who  have 
accomplished  very  great  things  out  of  the  religious  sphere 
have  lived  in  celibacy,  or  in  a  state  of  marriage  but  little 
different  from  celibacy.  Voluntary  celibacy,  moreover,  does 
not  put  a  minister  into  an  estate  of  hostility  to  society. 

But  the  celibacy  of  the  pastor  is  good  only  as  a  positive  and 
special  call,  under  the  general  call  of  a  pastor.  If  it  be  not  a 
thirst  for  purity  and  for  devotion  which  has  counseled  or  im- 
posed it,  it  is,  even  with  the  greatest  decorum  of  manners, 
rather  evil  than  good.  I  should  fear  that  it  would  induce 
habits  little  regular  and  little  consistent  with  the  dignity  of 
the  pastor.*  I  should  fear  its  purity  would  be  suspected,  for 
in  such  a  state  a  very  high  degree  of  sanctity  is  necessary 
to  exclude  every  unfavorable  idea.  It  is  very  true  that  there 
is,  in  the  idea  of  a  strictly  honorable  celibacy,  something  pure 
and  angelic,  but  it  is  indispensable  that  our  celibacy  should 
have  this  reputation. 

As  a  general  rule,  when  celibacy  is  not  a  sacrifice  to  the 
kingdom  of  God,  marriage  is  preferable.  It  is  certain  that 
if  the  ministry  do  not  gain  from  the  celibacy  of  the  pastor, 
it  loses.  For  in  this  case  there  is  no  more  of  devotion,  and 
it  may  render  less  useful  that  which  one  has.  Taking  men 
as  they  are,  the  married  pastor  is  more  useful,  all  other  things 
being  equal,  than  the  unmarried.  In  a  well-chosen  marriage, 
in  a  family  life,  there  is  first  the  advantage  of  a  model  pre- 
sented to  the  parish  and  to  the  world ;  and  then  the  pastor 
may  have  useful  co-operation,  if  his  wife  be  truly  what  she 
ought  to  be.f 

*  The  ennui  of  an  absolute  solitude  will  naturally  lead  a  pastor  to 
seek  diversions  and  relaxations  abroad,  when  he  can  not  find  them  at 
home.  Long  and  frequent  visits,  loungings,  &c. 

t  Harms  goes  too  far,  not  in  making  marriage  the  rule  and  celiba- 
cy the  exception,  for  we  do  the  same,  but  in  making  marriage  a  mat- 
ter of  absolute  necessity  and  obligation  in  respect  to  the  pastor,  so 
that  the  pastor  is  not  completely  a  pastor  if  he  be  not  married  (111, 
182). 


CHOICE    OF    A    WIFE.  159 

This  leads  us  to  speak  of  what  the  wife  of  a  pastor  should 
be.  This  point  is  so  important,  that  we  think  celibacy  much 
preferable  to  a  marriage,  otherwise  well  chosen  and  happy, 
but  badly  chosen  and  unhappy  in  this,  that  the  woman  has 
espoused  the  man,  and  not  the  pastor  ;  or,  if  you  please,  to  a 
marriage  in  which  a  minister  has  had  in  view  himself  rather 
than  his  ministry. 

The  first  ministry  of  a  pastor  is  that  of  a  good  example, 
and  St.  Paul  associates  the  wife  in  this  ministry  when  he  de- 
sires that  the  wives  should  be  "  grave,  not  slanderous ;  that 
they  should  be  sober  and  faithful  in  all  things."  —  1  Tim., 
iii.,  11.  This  was  thought  to  be  of  so  much  importance  in 
certain  Churches,  those  of  Hungary,  that  the  minister  was 
made  absolutely  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  his  wife.*  He 
is  every  where  morally  so,  and  this  responsibility  is  a  grave 
one  ;  the  minister  may,  on  this  account,  seriously  suffer.  How 
much  may  the  irregularities  and  vices  of  the  wife  (her  evil 
speaking,  avarice,  negligence,  display,  &c.)  compromise  the 
respectability  of  the  pastor  !  And  inversely  :  Julian  the  apos- 
tate, observing  that  one  of  the  causes  of  the  success  of  the 
Gospel  was  the  pure  morals  of  its  followers,  and  particu- 
larly of  its  ministers,  sought  to  produce  a  concurrence  with 
Christianity  by  requiring  the  pagan  priests  to  maintain  their 
wives,  children,  and  domestics  in  the  same  purity  of  man- 
ners, t 

If  the  pastor,  in  his  choice,  should  have  respect  to  but  one 
thing,  would  it  not  be  the  education  of  his  children,  which 
for  the  greater  part,  sometimes  almost  wholly,  and  especially 
in  the  most  direct  and  most  continuous  manner,  depends  upon 
mothers  ?  The  pastor  can  not  at  the  same  time  train  up 
his  children  and  his  parish ;  so  far  from  this,  with  the  best 
intentions,  he  can  not  do  for  his  children  all  that  he  would, 

*  He  is  punished  on  her  account  if  she  dances,  if  she  plays  cards, 
&c.     See  BRIDGES,  The  Christian  Ministry. 
t  BRIDGES  :   The  Christian  Ministry,  page  197. 


160  CHOICE    OF    A    WIFE. 

and  that  another  could  do  for  them ;  he  must  be  able,  in  this 
matter,  to  depend  upon  his  wife.  Besides,  how  shall  his  fam- 
ily, under  the  influence  of  a  mother  who  is  not  a  Christian, 
present  the  aspect  of  a  Christian  family  ?  It  is  very  hurtful 
to  the  authority  of  a  pastor,  when  his  wife  is  not  seen  to  be 
his  first  proselyte,  and,  I  add,  his  principal  aid. 

In  fact,  the  wife  must  take  part  in  her  husband's  voca- 
tion, and  in  order  to  that,  she  must  first  partake  of  his  con- 
victions and  his  sentiments.  Without  this  (however  good  a 
wife  she  may  be),  she  will  be  to  him  as  an  obstacle  and  as  a 
scandal.  And  the  more  zealous  he  shall  be,  the  more  will 
the  impossibility  of  finding  aid,  or, at  least, interest  in  his  wife, 
wound  his  heart  and  discourage  him. 

But  if  she  share  his  sentiments,  he  has  an  inexhaustible 
and  ever-present  consolation,  a  double  power,  and  ordinarily 
an  excellent  counselor.  It  is  impossible  that  a  pious  wife 
should  not  become  to  a  pastor,  in  respect,  especially,  to  his 
ministry,  a  "helpmeet  fox  him."  He  will  find  in  her  a  live- 
lier and  more  exquisite  penetration,  a  surer,  more  prompt, 
and  delicate  tact,  milder  firmness,  a  more  tranquil  persever- 
ance.* 

She  may  render  him  valuable  services  among  the  poor,  the 
sick,  the  schools,  etc.  She  is  the  natural  confessor  of  women. 
She  is  a  counselor  more  readily  heard  than  any  other  in  cer- 
tain cases.  She  may  aid  her  husband  by  information  which 
she  may  furnish  him. 

Here  let  us  call  to  mind  the  memory  of  Aquila  and  Pris- 
cilla.t  a  married  couple  (of  the  laboring  class),  who  wrought 
with  St.  Paul  for  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  whom  all  the  gentile 
Churches  were  debtors  (Rom.,  xvi.,  3,  4) ;  who  took  with 

*  "  He  must  find  in  her  a  monitor,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word — 
a  co-worker,  an  inciter  to  good ;  and  if  she  is  not  so,  she  must  become 
so,  and  this  by  his  pains." — HARMS,  iii.,  187. 

1  See  the  discourse,  entitled  Aquilaa  et  Priscille,  in  the  Meditations 
Evangeliques  of  M.  Vinet. — Edit. 


GOVERNMENT    OF    THE    FAMILY.  161 

them  Apollos,  the  eloquent  disciple  of  John,  and  taught  him 
more  perfectly  the  way  of  God  (Acts,  xviii.,  2,  3,  26)  ;  and 
whose  two  names  are  never  separated  by  St.  Paul. — 2  Tim., 
iv.,  19;  1  Cor.,xvi.,  19. 

The  wife  of  a  minister  is  necessarily  an  obstacle  or  an  aid  : 
There  is  no  medium.  Hence  it  is  a  law  that  he  should  have 
the  ministry  in  his  view  in  the  choice  of  a  wife.  This,  per- 
haps, is  too  rarely  done.  We  engage  ourselves  before  we  are 
quite  serious  ;  and  if  it  be  otherwise,  passion  carries  us  away, 
and  we  see  what  does  not  exist. 

As  to  the  time  of  marriage — it  is,  perhaps,  too  much  to  wed 
at  the  same  time  a  parish  and  a  wife.  Would  it  not  be  bet- 
ter not  to  bring  too  closely  together  these  two  acts,  which, 
though  not  opposed  to  each  other,  are  different  ?* 

$  2.   Government  of  the  Family. 

"  A  bishop  must  be  one  that  ruleth  well  his  own  house, 
having  his  children  in  subjection  with  all  gravity;  for  if  a 
man  know  not  how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how  shall  he  take 
care  of  the  Church  of  God  ?" — 1  Tim.,  iii.,  4,  5. 

It  is  scarcely  natural  that  a  minister  should  be  devoted  to 
his  parish  (jealous  for  it,  with  the  jealousy  of  God),  and  be 
neglectful  of  his  family  ;  and  seldom  will  this  happen.  How 
can  one  be  a  bad  father  and  a  good  pastor,  the  pastorate  being 
but  a  more  extended  paternity  1  How  can  the  principle  of 
charity,  which  makes  a  good  pastor,  coexist  with  the  absence 
of  the  principle  of  affection,  which  makes  a  good  father  ? 
How  can  that  charity  which  concerns  itself  for  strangers  care 
nothing  for  those  of  its  own  household  ?  How  shall  not  the 
pastor  be  first  the  pastor  of  his  own  family  ?  How  can  we 
imagine  a  zealous  pastor  who  is  an  indifferent  father,  when 

*  On  the  manner  of  entering  into  the  state  of  marriage,  see  VHis- 
toire  de  Lavater,  by  GESSNER,  tome  i.,  p.  303-305.  The  history  of 
young  Tobias  is  not  more  beautiful. 


162         GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  FAMILY. 

it  it,  said  that  "  he  who  cares  not  for  his  own  is  worse  than 
an  infidel  ?" — 1  Tim.,  v.,  8. 

We  must  nevertheless  admit,  strange  as  it  may  be,  that 
one  may  have  a  kind  of  zeal  for  his  parish,  and  not  a  propor- 
tional solicitude  for  his  family  ;  may  suffer  himself  to  be  ab- 
sorbed by  the  details  of  his  office  ;  may,  perhaps,  like  better 
this  external  activity  than  to  take  care  of  his  household. 
There  are  many  badly  bred  children  in  priestly  families,  and 
the  fathers  of  these  children  are  not  always  (far  from  it)  bad 
pastors. 

It  is  a  grave  error  to  think  that  the  parish  should  precede 
the  family.  The  family  is  the  first  interest  in  respect  to  the 
pastor,  as  it  is  to  every  other  man.  If  a  pastor  will  not  ad- 
mit this,  he  would  be  wiser  not  to  marry.  What  the  family 
gains  by  our  cares  is  profitable  also  to  the  parish ;  first,  be- 
cause "  the  family,"  as  Q,uesnel  says,  "  is  a  little  diocese  where 
he  makes  trials  of  episcopal  and  ecclesiastical  zeal,  piety,  and 
prudence  ;"  next,  because  the  parish  gains  from  these  domes- 
tic cares  by  the  edifying  example  which  hence  results,  and  by 
the  pastoral  spirit  spread  over  all  the  members  of  the  family. 

It  loses,  in  the  same  proportion,  by  our  domestic  negligence, 
even  though  for  the  sake-  of  it  we  should  sacrifice  our  chil- 
dren :  first,  because  it  is  not  natural  that  a  true  blessing 
should  rest  upon  the  cares  of  a  pastor,  who,  having  no  care 
for  his  household,  is  worse  than  an  infidel ;  next,  on  account 
of  scandal.  Witness  the  example  of  the  children  of  Eli. — 1 
Samuel,  ii.  In  spite  of  Eli's  wise  and  grave  representations 
to  his  children  (ii.,  23,  25),  we  see,  by  the  reproaches  which 
they  brought  upon  him  (ii.,  29),  that,  by  his  weakness,  he 
was  the  cause  of  their  deportment ;  and  already,  in  chapter 
first,  we  perceive  that  he  was  not  a  spiritual  man.* 

We  should  guard  against  that  united  influence  of  the  po- 
litical spirit  of  the  times  and  of  certain  ideas  of  reform,  on 

*  Spiritual,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  is  not  to  be  understood  here  so  as 
to  imply  that  Eli  was  not,  on  the  whole,  a  man  of  true  piety. — Tr. 


HOUSE    OF    THE    PASTOR. 

account  of  which  children  are  apt  to  be  brought  up  in  a  dif- 
ferent spirit  from  the  submissive  one  of  which  the  apostle 
speaks. 

$  3.  House  and  Housetwld  Economy  of  the  Pastor. 

A  minister,  in  marrying,  should  know  according  to  what 
general  principles  his  house  ought  to  be  governed,  and  the 
wife  whom  he  has  married  (the  aid  he  has  taken  to  himself) 
should  learn  them  from  him,  if  she  has  yet  to  learn  them. 

Without  disparaging  an  honorable  liberty,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  order  of  his  house,  and  the  habits  of  the  external  life 
of  his  family,  should  be  subordinated  to  the  interests  of  his 
ministry.  This  is  riot  a  yoke  which  he  imposes  upon  his  wife, 
but  principles  that  she  should  voluntarily  adopt  in  virtue  of 
an  interest  which  she  shares  with  him. 

If  there  be  not  this  concert,  or  if  principles  are  observed 
only  at  the  expense  of  the  liberty  of  one  of  the  parties,  every- 
thing will  go  wrong. 

This  being  assumed,  we  believe  that  the  internal  affairs 
(the  affairs  of  the  domestic  establishment)  ought  to  satisfy 
propriety  in  two  ways  :  by  order  and  neatness,  if  the  pastor 
be  poor  ;  by  simplicity,  if  he  be  rich  ;  which,  certainly,  does 
not  mean  that  order  may  be  wanting  in  a  rich  house,  or  sim- 
plicity in  a  poor  one  ;  still  less,  that  one  will  have  order  sim- 
ply because  he  is  rich,  or  simplicity  merely  because  he  is  poor, 
without  seeking  it  by  other  means. 

Order  is  the  ornament,  the  attire,  the  luxury  of  poverty. 
Nothing  is  so  sad  as  the  appearance  of  riches,  and  preten- 
sions to  elegance  in  a  poor  house.  But,  on  the  contrary,  or- 
der in  poverty  shows  a  firm  soul,  a  serious  character,  a  peace- 
ful heart.  Order  and  neatness  among  the  poor  are  almost 
virtues,  inspiring  involuntary  respect  ;  and  their  absence 
greatly  injures  the  influence  of  a  poor  pastor. 

Simplicity  is  the  only  ornament  which  may  properly  at- 


164  HOUSE    OF    THE    PASTOR. 

tach  itself  to  wealth  ;  it  is  always  in  'good  taste,  especially 
in  a  parsonage.  The  contrary  presents  too  great  a  contrast 
with  the  functions  of  the  pastor.  But  more  than  this  :  The 
parsonage  is  a  second  poor-house  in  the  parish.  None  is  so 
much  visited  hy  the  unfortunate.  It  requires  but  very  little 
to  offend  their  notice.  What  a  rich  man,  or  even  one  in 
easy  circumstances,  scarcely  honors  with  the  name  of  com- 
fort, is  for  them  luxury  and  show.  If,  at  the  house  of  a 
wealthy  pastor,  opulence  may  show  itself,  it  must  be  only 
under  a  grave  form,  and  there  must  be  no  appearance  of 
fancy,  of  finery,  or  of  sensuality.  There  is  a  luxury  which 
addresses  the  senses,  and  another  which  addresses  the  mind 
and  the  imagination,  and  where  matter  is  made  subservient 
to  thought.* 

Entering  much  into  society  (I  mean  what  are  called  as- 
semblies, soirees,  dinner  parties,  etc.)  offends  poverty,  by  the 
leisure  which  it  wastes  and  by  the  expenditure  which  it  in- 
curs, or  at  least  which  it  implies.  The  family  of  a  pastor  may 
have  friends,  whom  they  may  see  familiarly  and  frequently, 
but  it  is  not  proper  that  they  should  see  the  world.  The 
personal  austerity  of  a  pastor  will  not  correct  the  impression 
which  one  will  receive  from  worldliness  in  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren. We  do  not  recommend  the  government  of  a  cloister. 
Whatever  abuse  may  be  made  of  the  proverb,  "  Youth  must 
have  its  way,"  it  is  not  without  truth.  But  without  wishing 
to  force  nature,  and  while  authorizing  a  proper  liberty,  it  is 
still  necessary  that  the  pastor  should  have  a  well-governed 
house,  and  dissipated  life  in  his  family  would  be  a  real 
scandal. 

We  have  elsewhere  said  that  one  of  the  prerogatives  of  a 
pastor  is  to  belong  to  no  particular  class  of  society,  f  His 
wife  and  children  must  not  deprive  him  of  this  prerogative, 
by  courting  the  society  of  the  gay  world. 

*  Contention  between  the  seriousness  of  a  husband  and  the  vanity 
of  his  wife,  in  the  Vicar  of  Wakcjield.  t  Page  70. 


HOUSE    OF    THE    PASTOR.  165 

More  care  should  be  taken  in  the  choice  of  Domestics  than 
in  any  other  House. — -They  should  be  persons  who  not  only 
may  suit  in  respect  of  the  services  we  exact  from  them,  but 
persons  of  good  character,  and  disposed  to  enter  into  the  spirit 
of  our  house. 

Decency,  dignity  of  manners  in  the  interior,  in  language, 
in  all  respects,  should  be  maintained.  The  way  is  to  have 
self-respect. 

Peace. — The  house  of  a  pastor  is  a  house  of  peace,  not  of 
contention  and  noise. 

Simplicity  of  the  Table,  Sobriety. — Let  no  suspicion  of 
intemperance  or  sensuality  attach  itself  to  pastors.  The 
world  instinctively  discerns  in  them  the  first  appearances  of 
those  vices  which  are  opposed  to  the  virtues  that  should  char- 
acterize them. 

Hospitality. — This  is  put  by  St.  Paul  (Titus,  i.,  8 ;  1  Tim., 
iii.,  4)  in  the  number  of  the  virtues  of  a  bishop.  Hospitality 
had  then  an  importance  which  it  has  not  now.  In  addition 
to  her  general  well-known  circumstances  of  need,  Christian- 
ity was  a  wayfarer  ;  zeal,  persecution,  agitated  the  Church; 
and,  moreover,  the  condition  of  a  wayfarer,  though  rich,  was 
not  agreeable  ;  that  of  the  poor  was  wretched.  Christians 
are  commended  for  having  exercised  hospitality,  widows  for 
having  washed  the  saints'  feet. — 1  Tim.,  v.,  10.  We  may 
cite  many  examples  of  the  performance  of  this  duty  in  the 
primitive  Church ;  Aquila  and  Priscilla  took  Apollos  into 
their  house. — Acts,  xviii.,  2—13. 

If  this  precept  be  now  of  any  general  application,  it  is  par- 
ticularly applicable  to  pastors.  The  more  hospitality  is  neg- 
lected or  avoided,  the  more  should  a  pastor  give  an  example 
of  it,  without,  however,  conniving  in  the  least  degree  at  that 
useless  and  pernicious  abuse  which  is  sometimes  attempted 
to  be  made  of  it  in  the  name  of  Christianity.  For,  decidedly, 
the  form  of  it  at  least  has  changed.  I  should  like  to  see  a 
pastor  exercise  it  toward  the  honorable  poor  of  his  parish  with 


166  FAMILY    WORSHIP. 

discretion  and  prudence.  Beyond  this,  I  see  no  more  than 
a  general  duty,  of  which  he  should  give  an  example  to  his 
flock  as  of  other  virtues,  but  not  more  than  of  other  virtues. 

Family  Worship. — It  is  useless  to  prove  that  the  house 
of  the  pastor  should  be  the  example  and  model  of  this.  It  is 
not  ordinarily  to  be  enlarged  in  a  manner  which  gives  it  the 
appearance  of  an  extra-domestic  worship.  It  should  be  dis- 
tinguished from  meetings  for  edification  which  one  may  hold 
with  his  neighbors  and  parishioners  under  the  roof  of  the  par- 
sonage. The  worship  of  the  family  should  always  preserve 
its  own  character.  Family  worship,  properly  conducted,  may 
react  with  advantage  upon  public  worship. 

The  government  of  the  temporal  interests  of  the  parsonage 
(household  economy)  is  one  of  the  things  which  shows  the 
pastor  the  importance  of  choosing  a  proper  person  for  his 
wife.  For  she  has  in  this  department  the  greatest  influence; 
and  it  is  important  that  the  pastoral  mansion  should  be  well 
governed ;  that  the  order  and  the  exactness  which  reign 
there  should  edify  every  one — should  have  a  Christian  char- 
acter, and  this  in  small  as  well  as  in  great  things.  Exact- 
ness, punctuality,  if  they  be  not  virtues,  may  become  so  by 
the  principle  in  which  they  are  exercised  ;  and,  in  all  cases, 
they  are  the  condition  of  more  than  one  virtue,  and  the  ab- 
sence of  them  compromises  many.  In  evil,  as  well  as  in 
good,  the  exterior  reacts  upon  the  interior.  Negligence  in- 
duces impatience,  irritations,  lawsuits,  falsehood,  injustice ; 
and  further,  by  tempting  others  to  deceive  us,  brings  them 
into  sin.  It  is  not  necessary,  in  order  to  appear  good,  that 
we  should  pass  for  dupes.  Voluntary,  free,  intelligent  good- 
ness is  the  true  goodness ;  and  it  is  this,  especially,  which 
causes  us  to  be  loved.  Why  should  we  covet  any  other  ?  It 
is  needless  to  say  that  this  exactness  is  consistent  with  liber- 
ality, that  it  has  nothing  in  common  with  finesse.  For  the 
mistress  of  a  parsonage,  we  should  desire  the  reputation  of 
an  orderly  woman,  but  not  celebrity  for  industry  and  man- 


PASTORAL    ECONOMY.  167 

agement.  To  be  overwise  does  not  suit  her,  and  I  would 
that  her  ideal  should  be  composed  of  the  image  of  the  wise 
woman  of  the  Proverbs  (xxxi.,  10-31),  and  of  that  of  the 
Christian  widows  of  whom  St.  Paul  speaks  to  Timothy,  or 
of  the  character  of  Martha  tempered  by  that  of  Mary.  She 
should  also  know,  and  her  husband,  in  choosing  her,  should 
have  been  well  assured  that  she  did  know,  that  there  is  not 
only  more  of  happiness  (Acts,  xx.,  35),  but  more  of  dignity 
and  more  of  prudence,  in  giving  than  in  receiving. 


PART    THIRD. 

PASTORAL  LIFE. 


Preliminary  Reflections  on  the  Choice  of  a  Parish,  and  on 

Changes. 

A  PASTOR'S  functions,  in  his  relation  to  his  parish  as  a 
whole,  are  those  which  pertain  to  public  worship  and  in- 
structimi ;  in  his  relation  to  families  and  individuals,  they  are 
embraced  in  the  care  of  souls.  He  sustains  relations,  also, 
to  the  universal  Church,  but  chiefly  as  a  Christian ;  noth- 
ing, so  far  as  these  are  concerned,  being  specially  proper  to  a 
pastor. 

Before  examining  separately  each  of  these  branches  of  his 
work,  let  us  consider  the  work  as  a  whole,  and  regard  the 
minister  at  the  moment  when  he  is  about  to  put  himself  at 
the  head  of  a  parish.  I  do  not  at  present  distinguish  the  work 
of  the  suffragan  from  that  of  the  pastor  :  I  shall  speak  of  the 
suffragan  hereafter. 

As  there  is  a  call  to  the  ministry  in  general,  there  is  one 
also  to  this  or  that  particular  ministry.  We  will  endeavor 
to  give  some  rules.  The  first  rule  is  not  to  have  solely  or 
chiefly  in  view,  in  this  determination,  our  own  convenience 
or  personal  advantages  ;  but  the  measure  of  our  strength,  the 
nature  of  our  talent,  the  circumstances  of  the  parish,  the  need 
it  has  of  us  rather  than  of  some  other,  or  of  some  other  rather 
than  of  us.  After  settling  this  question,  but  not  till  then,  we 
may  consult  also  our  own  convenience,  our  own  particular 

H 


170  CHOICE    OF    A    PARISH. 

interest.  I  will  not  say  that  the  difficulties  and  dangers 
which  one  may  foresee  will  be  decisive  as  to  the  question  of 
his  call ;  but  that  at  least,  when  there  is  doubt  on  this  point, 
this  consideration  will,  in  very  many  cases,  remove  it,  and 
that,  in  general,  we  ought  less  to  shrink  from  a  post  which 
promises  us  difficulties  than  one  which  exempts  us  from 
them. 

The  second  rule,  after  dismissing  interest,  is  also  to  dis- 
miss all  those  considerations  which  are  not  drawn  from  the 
nature  of  things,  the  interest  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
the  direct  or  indirect  teachings  of  the  Divine  word.  In  this 
matter,  as  in  many  others,  superstition,  indolence  of  mind  and 
of  conscience,  arbitrary  maxims,  have  played  a  large  part. 
We  prefer  consulting  these  advisers  rather  than  God.  con- 
science, and  reason. 

Many  have  thought  it  best,  and  have  counseled  others,  to 
remain  passive.  That  we  may  not  decide  wrong,  say  they, 
let  us  not  decide  at  all ;  let  us  take  what  is  offered  to  us.  It 
is  not  strange  that  a  man,  especially  a  Christian,  should,  in 
such  a  matter,  fear  to  decide  for  himself.  There  is  not  one 
of  his  steps  which  is  not  invisibly  connected  with  a  long  se- 
ries of  consequences  impossible  to  be  foreseen,  and  often  as 
serious  in  themselves  as  their  cause  is  inconsiderable.  The 
Christian  knows  better  than  any  other  how  apt  he  is  to  de- 
ceive himself.  He  knows  that  "  the  way  of  man  is  not  in 
himself." — Jer.,x.,23.  Bengel,  on  this  subject,  says,  "The 
less  of  himself  an  instrument  puts  into  an  action,  and  the 
more  he  leaves  God  himself  to  act,  the  purer  and  more  com- 
plete is  the  action."*  It  is,  indeed,  useful  to  set  one's  self 
aside  ;  it  is  dangerous  to  have  to  make  use  of  one's  own  will 
when  considerations  of  interest  are  complicated  with  those 
of  duty  :  But  we  must  take  care  that  we  do  not  sacrifice  to 
mental  indolence  while  we  think  to  sacrifice  to  humility.  It 
is  also  true  that  when  we  are  important  enough  to  engage 
*  BENGKL'H  I^ben  row  Burk,  p.  14f>. 


CHOICE    OF    A    PARISH.  171 

attention,  and  when  institutions  allow  men  to  anticipate 
movement  on  our  part,  it  is  a  great  privilege  to  be  called 
without  having  first  presented  ourselves ;  and  in  every  case 
it  is  better  not  to  move  than  to  act  without  full  conviction ; 
conviction  which,  in  questions  of  this  kind,  it  is  not  easy  to 
obtain.  In  ecclesiastical  constitutions  passivity  is  not  possi- 
ble. Even  where  it  is  possible,  I  do  not  think  that,  except 
in  very  particular  cases,  we  should  remain  passive.  Passivi- 
ty in  the  Christian  life  is  the  exception,  and  not  the  rule. 

Jesus  Christ  would  raise  Christian  obedience  to  the  high- 
est degree  of  spontaneity,  and  would  invest  with  the  greatest 
power  the  element  of  individuality,  which,  in  the  old  economy, 
was  compressed.  It  is  only  when  the  exercise  of  liberty  is 
impossible  that  we  are  permitted  to  wait ;  and  even  in  this 
voluntary  submission  the  Christian  has  liberty.  This  prin- 
ciple, which,  until  the  sixteenth  century,  lay  in  oblivion, 
makes  Protestantism  a  very  serious  matter  ;  and  if  we  should 
rejoice  in  this  restoration  of  the  Gospel,  and  with  it  that  of 
personal  liberty  and  responsibility,  we  should  do  so  with 
trembling.  But  if  the  impossibility  of  foreseeing  and  calcu- 
lating the  consequences  of  each  action  should  restrain  us  from 
action,  it  is  evident  that  we  should  never  act. 

That,  then,  which  is  required  is  not  passivity,  but  to  purify 
our  motive  by  prayer ;  not  to  act  without  full  conviction 
(Rom.,  xiv.,  23) ;  not  to  substitute  our  will  for  that  of  others, 
or  of  God,  by  forcibly  turning  aside  the  natural  course  of 
things  ;  finally,  not  to  employ  intrigue  and  simony  in  order 
to  obtain  a  desirable  post.  There  are  here  very  subtile 
points,  as  to  which,  however,  an  upright  conscience  will  not 
be  misled.  It  is  seldom  necessary,  and  it  is  not  possible,  to 
indicate  their  different  forms.*  With  us,  the  former  law  shut 
every  avenue  to  simony  in  making  promotion  depend  upon 
age  ;  the  new  law  has  not  much  opened  the  door.  There  is 

*  Bengel  held  the  purity  of  vocation  in  such  high  regard  that  he 
excludes  all  those  who  are  influenced  by  the  wishes  of  near  relations. 


172  CHOICE    OF    A    PARISH. 

in  this  a  compensation  for  the  inconvenience  of  our  not  being 
able  to  make  capacity  the  standard  of  employment,  or  the 
need  of  each  parish  the  determining  consideration  in  provid- 
ing for  it. 

But,  after  all  this  reservation,  we  may  adopt  the  formula 
of  Harms  :  "  When,  in  my  own  judgment,  and  in  the  judg- 
ment of  competent  persons,  I  have  the  qualifications  requisite 
for  a  place,  and  when  I  feel  myself  able,  with  God's  assist- 
ance, to  fulfill  its  duties,  I  may  then  openly  offer  my  services, 
and,  in  order  to  obtain  the  place,  make  use  of  all  legitimate 
and  honest  means.* 

The  principle  of  passivity  seems  to  have  prevailed  in  the 
first  ages  of  the  Church.  Not  only  do  we  there  find  forced 
ordinations,  but  also  calls  to  such  or  such  a  post  accepted 
without  saying  a  word  ;  it  was  even  a  virtue  not  to  make 
inquiry.  This  is  intelligible  enough  ;  the  contrary  would  not 
have  been  once  thought  of.  The  circumstances  are  no  lon- 
ger the  same.  Remark,  nevertheless,  that  on  a  change  of  cir- 
cumstances the  principle  may  reappear ;  it  has  reappeared, 
although  with  restrictions,  in  the  work  of  missions,  so  like 
that  of  the  first  propagation  of  Christianity.  In  every  work 
where  heroism  is  necessary,  obedience  is  necessary  also ;  the 
first  thing  to  be  broken  down  is  the  will,  at  every  point  in 
which  there  is  the  most  of  sensibility  and  delicacy. 

The  question  may  be  asked  :  When  there  is  a  direct  call 
on  the  part  of  our  natural  superiors,  without  our  having  in 
any  way  contributed  to  it,  should  we  always  obey  ?  No ;  even 
in  this  case  we  may  refuse,  though  not  without  strong  reasons. 
Here  the  just  presumption  is  in  favor  of  acceptance  ;  we  must, 
then,  seriously  examine,  and  not  refuse,  except  under  full  evi- 
dence that  we  are  bound  to  do  so.  We  can  not,  however, 
admit  the  opinion  expressed  by  Dr.  Schleussner  :  "  My  dear 
Professor  Polycarp  Leyser  strongly  recommended  me,"  says 
he,  "to  refuse  no  regular  call ;  for,  said  he,  God  punishes 
*  Pattoraltheologie,  iii.,  217. 


«  . 

CHOICE    OF   A    PARISH.  173 

.-    .  •       •,  '"iT       v  ^  -  i™"1-.  •*• 

those  who  allow  themselves  to  do  so,  either  by  withdrawing 
them  from  this  world  before  the  end  of  the  year,  or  causing 
them  to  lose  their  gifts,  or  permitting  them  to  i'all  into  some 
snare."* 

The  third  rule  is  to  be  certain  of  the  disposition  of  the  par- 
ish in  this  matter,  and  not  to  impose  ourselves  on  it  against 
its  will.  A  conscientious  and  delicate  minister,  on  his  own 
account,  would  secure  to  the  parish  a  participation  in  the 
choice  of  a  pastor.  If  he  is  not  precisely  desired,  he  must  at 
least  be  welcome.  This  is  said  in  general,  and  not  with- 
out exception.  For  if  we  think  that  if  we  are  excluded,  the 
parish  will  be  ill  provided  for,  and  if  there  is  reason  for  be- 
lieving that  our  presence  will  easily  and  promptly  dissipate 
prejudices  which  may  have  spread  abroad  concerning  us,  it 
is,  perhaps,  our  duty  to  proceed. 

The  fourth  rule  is  not  to  exchange  lightly  one  place  for 
another.  When  one  is  doing  well,  when  he  is  blessed  in  the 
position  which  he  occupies,  when  he  is  sufficient  for  it,  a 
great  point  is  gained.  We  must  not  too  easily  yield  to  the 
thought  that  we  might  more  profitably  use  all  our  faculties 
and  do  more  good  somewhere  else.  We  must  not  too  easily 
abandon  a  place  to  which  we  are  suited.  The  reason  should 
be  a  very  strong  one  which  forces  us  from  it  :  The  necessity, 
the  danger  of  another  parish  :  "  Come  over  to  Macedonia 
and  help  us  !" — Acts,  xvi.,  9.  We  must  have  heard  this  cry 
before  venturing  to  remove. 

Sometimes,  also,  after  having  passed  a  certain  time  in  a 
place  where  we  have  done  and  are  yet  doing  good,  we  may 
remember  that  where  Paul  had  planted  it  was  necessary  that 
Apollos  should  water ;  we  may  be  less  suited  to  the  work  in 
the  sequel  than  we  were  at  its  beginning.  Our  part,  so  to 
speak,  may  have  been  performed ;  we  may  no  longer  increase ; 
the  work,  in  order  to  advance,  must  pass  into  other  hands. 
Still,  I  think  that  a  true  Christian  develops  himself  with 
*  BORK,  Pastor althcologie  in  Beispielen,  tome  i.,  p.  98. 


174  PASTORAL    DISPOSITIONS. 

his  work  and  by  his  work ;  and  that  to  the  new  demands  to 
which  he  has  given  rise,  he  answers  hy  new  developments 
of  his  interior  life  :  If  it  be  thus,  there  can  be  nothing  bet- 
ter for  the  parish  than  that  the  pastor  should  remain  ;  as 
Thomas  Adam  did  at  Wintringham,  which  was  his  first 
and  his  last  parish,  and  where  he  passed  fifty  years.  In 
the  Wesleyan  Church,  a  pastor  remains  only  three  years  at 
the  head  of  the  same  parish,  so  as  to  prevent  his  peculiar  tend- 
encies from  becoming  deeply  rooted  in  their  too  affectionate 
hearts. 

These  great  phases  of  our  life  ought  to  be  solemnized  : 
such  a  day  as  that  in  which  we  take  the  charge  of  a  parish 
ought  not  to  pass  as  ordinary  days.  It  is  a  sort  of  vigil  kept 
previous  to  commencing  knighthood,  in  whteh  we  solicit  on 
our  knees  the  panoply — the  complete  armor — of  a  servant  of 
Jesus  Christ ;  in  which  we  put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God, 
as  St.  Paul  recommends  in  the  epistle  to  the  Ephesians  (vi., 
11-17). 

We  should  also,  from  respect  for  the  parish,  be  careful  as 
to  our  first  appearance  after  entrance.  Our  first  sermon 
should  be  carefully  studied ;  it  should  embrace  our  whole 
mind,  and,  if  possible,  our  whole  personality,  announcing  us 
with  modesty  and  frankness.  Nevertheless,  we  must  not 
speak  of  ourselves  more  than  is  necessary. 

We  ought,  together  with  this,  to  take  distinct  note  of  the 
pastoral  dispositions,  and  to  make  trial  of  them  as  one  does 
of  a  garment  which  he  is  to  clothe  himself  with,  and  no  more 
to  lay  aside.  What  are  these  ? 

1 .  The  spirit  of  humility,  which  does  not  consist  in  dis- 
paraging what  we  have,  but  in  wishing  to  be  nothing  in  our- 
selves ;  in  esteeming  others  better  than  ourselves ;  in  know- 
ing how  to  accept  injustice,  and  suffering  ourselves  to  be 
counted  as  nothing.  The  more  a  pastor  reduces  himself 
for  the  sake  of  magnifying  God,  the  more  has  he  of  author- 
ity. The  more  we  are  emptied  of  ourselves,  the  more  shall 


PASTORAL    DISPOSITIONS.  175 

• 

we  perceive,  in  this  emptiness,  the  grandeur  of  our  minis- 
try.* 

2.  Tlie  spirit  of  modesty  and  of  moderation.     He  must 
prepare  himself  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  and  still  choose 
ordinary  paths  ;  not  project  great  things  outwardly  ;  not  de- 
spise the  day  of  small  things  ;  walk  with  the  humble  ;  avoid 
the  spirit  of  an  innovator  ;  place  his  feet  as  much  as  possible 
in  paths  already  made,  according  to  this  word  of  Moses  : 
"  Ask  now  of  the  days  which  are  past,  which  are  before  thee" 
(Deut.,  ii.,  32) ;  and  that  of  Jeremiah  :   "  Stand  ye  in  the 
ways  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  old  paths"  (vi.,  16).     This 
does  not  mean,  Confine  yourselves  to  the  past ;  perfect  noth- 
ing, correct  nothing,  begin  nothing  ;  it  only  imports,  Do  not 
lightly  reject  traditions ;    forsake   not,  without   reason,  that 
which  is  established  ;  let  there  be  a  legitimate  presumption 
in  favor  of  that  which  is ;    make  constancy  the  rule,  and 
change  the  exception. 

3.  The  spirit  oficar,  and  the  spirit  of  peace.     The  spirit 
of  war  is  essential  to  the  ministry  and  to  the  profession  of 
Christianity.     Like  Christ,  we  come  to  kindle  a  fire,  and  we 
should  even  restrain  ourselves  until  it  be  kindled  ;  we  bring 
a  sword,  and  not  peace ;  we  throw  into  the  mass  a  burn- 
ing leaven.     The  exterior  may  deceive  us ;  but  the  exteri- 
or ought  not  to  determine  our  judgment  or  our  stand- point. 
Even  as  to  that  peace,  and  those  guarantees  which  are  incor- 
porated in  the  civil  institution  and  rooted  in  the  soil,  we  should 
act  as  if  there  were  nothing  of  these ;  for  all  these  may  be 
nothing ;  all  these,  perhaps,  will  be  no  more  to-morrow,  for 
us  at  least.     Notwithstanding  appearances,  Christianity,  in 
its  vital  and  characteristic  elements,  is  always  a  stranger  and 
an  intruder.     We  must  gird  up  our  loins,  for  this  peace  is  only 

*  See  Part  Royal,  par  M.  SAINTE-BEOVE,  tome  i.,  p.  464,  on  the  re- 
markable authority  of  M.  Singlin,  Director  of  Consciences  in  this  in- 
stitution. His  humility  was  the  source  of  this  authority ;  for  he  cast 
nimself  on  God  alone. 


176  PASTORAL    DISPOSITIONS^ 

a  respite,  a  truce  ;  we  must  draw  the  bow  for  a  mark  much 
further  removed  than  that  which  seems  to  be  presented  to  us. 
"  He  tcacheth  my  hands  to  war,  and  my  fingers  to  fight." 
— Psalm  cxliv.,  1.  Thus  the  spirit  of  strife  is  necessary,  but 
also  the  spirit  of  peace.  The  pastor  should  not  approach  his 
parishioners  as  if  they  were  adversaries ;  he  should  treat  no 
one  as  an  adversary  before  he  is  proved  to  be  such  :  He 
should  regard  his  flock  as  a  flock — a  family  ;  and  in  every  re- 
spect he  should  proceed  upon  the  principle  of  benevolence. 
From  the  first,  let  the  pastor  regard  himself  as  beloved. 
Nothing  more  falsifies  our  position  than  putting  ourselves  on 
the  defensive.  Those  who  hate  us,  or  would  attack  us,  will 
perhaps  be  disarmed  by  our  confidence,  our  benevolence,  our 
candor. 

4.  The  spirit  of  devotedness  to  the  parish,  for  which, 
in  mass  and  in  detail,  we  should  be  ready  to  surrender  life, 
as  in  certain  difficult  circumstances,  epidemics,  war,  etc. 
"  It  is  in  our  hearts  to  die  and  live  with  you." — 2  Cor.,  vii., 
3.  It  is  better  to  renounce  the  ministry  than  to  neglect  any 
thing  pertaining  to  it. 

Let  us  pass  in  review  certain  general  duties  of  the  pastor 
after  entering  on  his  functions.  First,  that  of  residence. 

The  law,  with  us,  has  in  great  part  provided  for  this,  by 
requiring  the  pastor  to  live  in  his  parish  ;  but  this  does  not 
forbid  frequent  and  prolonged  absences.  We  must  be  care- 
ful as  to  these.  There  are  some  pastors  who  prefer  to  be 
every  where  rather  than  at  home.  We  must  avoid  even  oc- 
casions of  religious  wandering. 

2.  Regularity  in  Functions,  and  Earnestness  in  f id  Jill- 
ing  them. — We  must  avoid  the  bad  taste  of  those  pastors 
who  lament  or  trifle  over  the  number  and  the  weight  of  their 
functions,  and  stun  the  ears  of  the  world  with  them  :  We 
must  not  allow  ourselves  in  delays,  which,  in  certain  cases, 
may  have  most  pernicious  consequences.  To  success  and 


PASTORAL    DISPOSITIONS.  177 

prosperity  in  the  ministry  we  may  apply  these  words  :  "A 
little  more  sleep,  a  little  more  slumber,  a  little  more  folding 
of  the  hands  to  sleep  ;  so  shall  thy  poverty  come  as  one  that 
traveleth,  and  thy  want  as  an  armed  man." — Prov.,  vi.,  10, 
11. 

The  minister  should  he  constantly  absorbed  in  his  ministry. 
"  Think  on  these  things"  (the  duties  of  the  ministry),  says 
Paul  to  Timothy,  "  and  give  thyself  wholly  to  them." — 1 
Tim.,  iv.,  15.  It  would  be  deplorable  to  have  a  predomin- 
ant taste  apart  from  the  ministry,  so  that  this  should  occupy 
only  the  second  place.  That  minister  is  in  a  sad  position 
whose  ministry  is  not  his  life.  If  one  gives  himself  entirely 
to  a  ministry  only  when  he  loves  it,  he  will  love  it  only  when 
he  gives  himself  entirely  to  it.  Nothing  so  attaches  a  min- 
ister to  his  flock,  and  vice  versa,  as  the  sacrifices  which  he 
makes  for  it. 

In  order  to  give  himself  entirely  to  the  ministry,  he  must 
simplify  his  life,  avoid  whatever  would  draw  him  from  duty, 
whatever  will  not  contribute  to  the  success  of  his  work,  all 
the  cares  of  the  world,*  even  the  cares  which  may  consist 
with  the  ministry,  but  which  are  not  an  essential  part  of  it, 
and  which  we  may  with  propriety  transfer  to  others. — Acts, 
vi.,  2. 

*  "  Take  no  thought,  saying,  What  shall  we  eat,  what  shall  we 
drink,"  etc. — Matt.,  vi.,  31,  32.  "  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  lest  your 
hearts  be  overcharged  with  cares  of  this  life." — Luke,  xxi.,  34. 

H  2 


SECTION  FIRST. 

WORSHIP. 


IN  a  practical  and  local  point  of  view,  we  here  have  little 
to  say ;  but  we  should  not  restrict  ourselves  to  this  point  of 
view.  Wherever  duty  and  the  form  of  duty  are  traced,  it  is 
useful  to  ascend  to  principle,  and  thus  to  become  penetrated 
with  the  true  spirit  of  duty,  the  spirit  which  is  to  be  found 
in  principle,  and  not  lower. 

Worship  is  the  more  immediate  expression,  the  purely  re- 
ligious form  of  religion.  It  is  the  internal  or  external  act  of 
adoration — adoration  in  act.  Now  adoration  is  nothing  else 
than  the  direct  and  solemn  acknowledgment  of  the  divinity 
of  God,  and  of  our  obligations  toward  him. 

Public  worship,  otherwise  called  service,  or  divine  office, 
comprehends,  according  to  the  ordinary  idea,  whatever  is 
performed  during  the  time  in  which  an  assembly  remains  to- 
gether in  the  name  of  God  and  for  the  cause  of  God. 

According  to  this  idea,  then,  worship  includes  also  exhort- 
ation, or  instruction,  or  exposition  of  the  word  of  God.  This, 
however,  is  framed  into  worship,  rather  than  an  integrant 
part  of  it.  It  is  only  when  we  generalize  the  idea  of  wor- 
ship, and  make  it  to  include  whatever  has  God  for  its  ob- 
ject, whatever  our  intention  refers  to  God,  that  we  may  call 
preaching,  or  instruction  in  religious  truths,  worship.  It  is 
so  neither  more  nor  less  than  any  other  good  work.  "  Adora- 
tion," according  to  Klopstock,  as  cited  by  Harms,  "  is  the  es- 
sence of  public  worship.  Instruction  and  exhortation*  by  the 
*  Die  unterrichtende  Ermahnung. 


WORSHIP.  179 

preacher,  notwithstanding  their  great  utility,  are  not  equally 
essential  elements."  We  add  to  this,  that  in  a  religious  sys- 
tem where  there  is  no  longer  a  priest,  where  one  man  is  not 
a  symbolic  mediator  between  God  and  mankind,  the  minis- 
ter* is  rather  the  director  of  worship  than  exclusively  the 
agent  of  it :  The  people,  regarding  worship  in  our  point  of 
view,  may  be  active  in  it,  and  in  a  certain  degree,  perhaps, 
ought  to  be.f  It  is  remarkable  that  in  our  worship  passivity 
predominates,  while  activity  distinguishes  the  Catholic  ! 

Worship  consists  in  words,  or  in  silent  rites;  more  fre- 
quently, however,  in  their  combination. 

We  can  not  well  represent  to  ourselves  a  silent  worship. 
Again,  we  can  hardly  conceive  of  a  worship  entirely  inward 
without  rites,  without  symbols.  It  is  important  to  give  a 
body  to  the  fundamental  sentiments  and  ideas  of  religion.  Life 
can  not  dispense  with  symbols  any  more  than  language  with 
metaphors.  Rite  is  a  metaphor  in  action.  Worship  is  an 
action,  so  the  Germans  call  it.  Action  is  nearer  to  life,  more 
resembles  life,  than  word.  "  Segnius  irritant  animos  de- 
missa  per  aurem,"  etc.J  Worship,  certainly,  may  be  an  action 
without  a  rite,  and  even  without  words  ;  but  when  we  would 
move  others,  and  be  moved  ourselves,  we  need  sometimes  more 
than  this  internal  silence. 

Comparing  the  word  with  the  rite,  how  is  the  former  to  be 
characterized  ? 

The  word  is  successive  :  The  act  of  worship  presents  si- 
multaneously many  ideas  or  many  relations.  The  word 

*  "  Ourselves  your  servants  for  Jesus'  sake." — 2  Cor.,  iv.,  5. 

t  "  Else  when  thou  shall  bless  with  the  spirit,  how  shall  he  that 
occupieth  the  room  of  the  unlearned,  say  Amen  at  thy  giving  of 
thanks  1  seeing  he  understandeth  not  what  thou  sayest." — 1  Cor., 
xiv.,  16. 

t  "  What  is  addressed  to  the  ear  affects  less  readily  the  soul." — 
HORACE  :  Art  of  Poetry,  v.  180.— Edit. 


180  _        WORSHIP. 

analyzes,  it  divides  ;  the  silent  rite  concentrates.  The  whole 
Gospel  has  been  concentrated  in  the  memorial  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  as  in  a  focus.  A  rite  expresses  only  what  is  essen- 
tial, but  it  does  this  with  a  force  which  the  word  has  not. 

Worship  consisting  of  rites  and  words  is  more  distinct  than 
contemplation,  less  than  discourse.  Contemplation  is  a  syn- 
thesis, discourse  an  analysis  ;  worship  which  partakes  of  con- 
templation and  the  word,  unites  synthesis  and  analysis,  and 
can  not,  without  mutilation,  exclude  either  of  these.  As  a 
whole,  it  aspires  to  elevate  harmoniously  all  the  faculties  of 
our  being  to  the  sphere  of  truth  (which  truth  is  not  a  form- 
ula, but  the  substance  of  one).  There  is  something  of  music 
in  it ;  it  has  the  character  of  song,  which  also  is  essential  to 
it ;  for  adoration  is  a  state  of  the  soul  which  only  song  can 
express.  Worship  is  the  assemblage  of  all  the  elements  of 
our  being  in  an  act  of  pure  religion.  I  do  not  exclude  words 
from  worship  ;  but  I  would  have  them  symbolic,  sacrament- 
al, like  the  rest  of  it.  Words  at  the  same  time  human  and 
stereotyped  do  not  seem  to  me  to  realize  the  ideal  of  a  Liturgy. 
If  human  words  must  intermingle  with  it,  I  would  rather 
have  them  free  and  individual.  In  some  Reformed  Churches, 
the  prayer  which  immediately  precedes  the  discourse  is  made 
by  the  pastor,  and  remains  his  own,  whether  he  uses  always 
the  same  one,  or  varies  it  with  circumstances. 

The  Romish  worship  has  erred  in  giving  too  much  to  rite, 
and,  through  rite,  too  much  to  traditions ;  but  its  Liturgy,  at 
least,  does  not  dogmatize  ;  it  has  the  spirit  of  song,  and  there- 
in it  is  good  ;  and  then  the  form  of  worship,  with  all  the  rest, 
is  with  them  an  affair  of  faith  and  of  dogma. 

As  for  us,  our  worship  is  too  much  a  confession  of  faith — a 
discourse  ;  every  thing  is  articulate,  every  thing  is  precise, 
every  thing  explains  itself.  The  effect  of  this  tendency  has 
gone  so  far  as  to  determine  the  idea  we  have  formed  of  tem- 
ples. We  regard  temples  as  places  for  hearing.  We  go  to 
them  to  hear  some  one  speak.  But  is  it  only  because  of  the 


WORSHIP.  181 

doctrine  of  the  real  presence  that  the  Catholic  temples  should 
be  regarded  as  true  temples  ?*  Would  the  character  of  the 
Catholic  worship  be  destroyed  if  the  theurgic  element  should 
be  separated  from  it?  Can  not  worship  have  its  proper  ef- 
fect unless  it  be  regarded  as  a  miracle  ?  What  is  the  rem- 
edy of  our  defect  ?  As  an  excess  can  hardly  be  corrected 
except  by  another  excess,  we  say  that  our  Liturgy  is  wanting 
in  what  would  be  a  fault  except  in  a  Liturgy  ;  that  is,  more 
of  vagueness,  a  flowing  of  religious  ideas  into  one  another ; 
which  might  take  place  without,  on  that  account,  making 
the  ideas  less  fit  to  express  Christian  faith  and  life.  Preach- 
ing is  an  addition  to  worship,  but  is  not  worship.  Harms.f 
with  reason,  recommends  houses  of  worship  without  preach- 
ing. This  would  not  tend  to  lower  preaching,  but  to  elevate 
worship. 

As  far  as  I  can  judge  of  the  worship  of  the  primitive 
Church,  it  must  have  held  a  medium  between  these  two  ex- 
tremes. We  see  in  it  nothing  of  the  anxious  precision  of  a 
confession  of  faith,  nothing  of  the  profusion  of  rites  of  the 
Romish  Church. 

Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  seem  to  have  been  less  con- 
corned  in  establishing  a  new  worship  than  in  abolishing  the 
old,  or,  at  least,  in  destroying  the  error  relating  to  the  intrin- 
sic value  of  that  "bodily  exercise  which  profiteth  little." — 
1  Tim.,  iv.,  8.  They  directly  abolished — they  only  indirect- 
ly and  silently  instituted.  Things  were  rather  born  than  es- 
tablished. Doctrine  only  was  established  ;  arid  that,  also, 
after  the  same  manner :  it  is  born  in  the  soul. 

See  John,  iv.,  23,  24  (worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth),  and 
the  whole  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  which  seems  to  identify 
religion  and  worship  ;  and  Col.,  ii.,  16  :  "  Let  no  man  judge 
you  in  meat  or  in  drink,  or  in  respect  of  a  holy  day,  or  of  the 
new  moon,  or  of  the  Sabbath  day ;"  and  Rom.,  xiv.,  17  :"  The 

*  Temples,  from  to  contemplate. 
t  Tome  ii.,  page  123. 


182  LORD'S  DAY — ASSEMBLIES. 

kingdom  of  God  is  not  in  meat  and  drink,  but  in  righteous- 
ness, and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Preaching  has  its  place  under  the  Gospel,  but  it  does  not 
suffocate  worship.  Our  word  is  a  prism  which  decomposes 
the  light ;  but  this  decomposition  should  only  be  a  transition. 

Here,  moreover,  are  all  the  ritual  elements  of  the  New 
Testament : 

The  Lord's  Day. — The  primitive  Church  had  a  sacred 
day,  that  of  the  Savior's  resurrection.  The  Sabbath  is  abol- 
ished,* but  Sunday  is  sacred.  It  was  not  added  to  Christian- 
ity, it  was  born  of  it.  God  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanc- 
tified it :  That  was  to  bless  his  work,  to  crown  it.  Sunday  is 
a  summary  of  Christianity,  gives  it  a  moment  in  time,  as  a 
temple  gives  it  a  place  in  space.  Internal  necessity  is  the  true 
law,  the  best  authority  for  Sunday  ;  it  speaks  more  strongly 
within  us  than  a  written  ordinance.  This  necessity  determ- 
ines the  mode  of  observing  Sunday.  Nothing  binds  as  much 
as  Christian  liberty  and  conscience  :  this  has  consecrated  a 
day,  it  ought  then  to  be  holy. 

Assemblies. — Hebrews,  x.,  25  :  "  Neglect  not  the  assem- 
bling of  yourselves  together,  as  the  manner  of  some  is." 

1  Cor.,  xiv.,  26  :  "  What  is  it  then,  my  brethren  ?  when 
ye  come  together,  every  one  hath  a  psalm,  hath  a  doctrine, 
hath  a  revelation,  hath  an  interpretation.  Let  all  things 
be  done  to  edification." 

Verse  40  :  "  Let  all  things  be  done  decently  and  in  order." 

James,  ii.,  1-3  (Poor  and  rich). 

1  Cor.,  xi.,  4,  5  :  "  Every  man  who  prays  or  prophesies, 
having  his  head  covered,  dishonors  his  head  ;  but  every  wom- 
an who  prays  or  prophesies  with  her  head  uncovered,  dishon- 
ors her  head ;  for  that  is  the  same  as  if  she  were  shorn." 

1  Cor.,  xi.,  passim  (on  the  way  of  employing  time  in  these 
assemblies). 

*  Has  the  Sabbath  been  abolished  1  See  Appendix,  note  H,  by  the 
Translator. 


PASSOVER SINGING BAPTISM UNCTION.  183 

Passover. — Matt.,  xxvi.  ;  Luke,  xxii. 

1  Cor.,  v.,  7,  8  :  "  Christ  our  passover  is  sacrificed  for  us. 
Therefore  let  us  keep  the  feast,  not  with  the  old  leaven  of 
malice  arid  of  wickedness,  but  with  the  unleavened  bread  of 
sincerity  and  truth." 

1  Cor.,  xi.,  23-29  (rules  for  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper). 

Singing.  —  Mark,  xiv.,  26:  "When  they  had  sung  an 
hymn,  they  went  out  to  the  Mount  of  Olives." 

Eph.,  v.,  19  :  "Speaking  to  one  another  in  psalms,  and 
hymns,  and  spiritual  songs,  singing  and  making  melody  in 
your  heart  to  the  Lord." 

Rites  which  do  not  appear  to  have  made  a  part  of  ordi- 
nary Worship. 

Baptism. — John,  iii.,  22  :  "  Jesus  went  then  with  his  dis- 
ciples into  the  land  of  Judea  ;  and  there  he  tarried  with 
them,  and  baptized." 

Acts,  viii.,  36-38  (Eunuch  of  Queen  Candace). 

Acts,  ii.,  44  :  "  Those  who  received  the  word  joyfully  were 
baptized." 

Acts,  x.,  47,  48  :  Peter  said,  "  Can  any  man  forbid  water, 
that  these  should  not  be  baptized,  who  have  received  the 
Holy  Ghost  as  well  as  we  ?  And  he  commanded  them  to 
be  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

Acts,  xvi.,  33  :  "  The  (jailor)  washed  their  stripes  (of  Paul 
and  Silas)  and  was  baptized,  he  and  his  household." 

Unction. — James,  v.,  14  :  "  Is  any  sick  among  you  ?  let 
him  call  for  the  pastors  of  the  Church,  and  let  them  pray  for 
him,  anointing  them  with  oil,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 
Compare  Mark,  vi.,  13. 

Imposition  of  Hands. — Acts,  xiv.,  23  :  "  And  when  they 
had  ordained  them  elders  in  every  Church  (by  imposition  of 
hands),  and  had  prayed  with  fasting,  they  commended  them 
to  the  Lord." 


184  IMPOSITION    OF    HANDS LITURGY. 

2  Cor.,  viii.,  19  :  "  He  (Titus)  was  chosen  (with  imposi- 
tion of  hands)  of  the  Churches  to  travel  with  us." 

2  Tim.,  i.,  6  :  "  Stir  up  the  gift  of  God  which  is  in  thee, 
and  which  you  have  received  by  the  putting  on  of  my  hands." 

1  Tim.,  iv.,  14  :  "  Neglect  not  the  gift  which  is  in  thee, 
which  was  given  to  thee  hy  prophecy,  with  the  laying  on  of 
the  hands  of  the  Presbytery." 

The  imposition  of  hands  was  then  more  than  a  symbol :  it 
was  an  act  to  which  a  supernatural  efficacy  was  attached. 

It  is  in  all  this  to  be  remarked  that  we  see  more  a  com- 
munity than  its  head  :  We  do  not  see  in  these  assemblies  that 
one  man  was  all,  and  did  all. 

Laying  aside  now  all  discussion  and  all  parallels,  and 
placing  ourselves  on  the  Protestant  stand-point,  let  us  char- 
acterize appropriately  the  worship  which  is  in  spirit  and  in 
truth.  A  Liturgy  should, 

1.  Express  religion,  the  whole  of  religion ;  give  a  summary, 
not  an  abridgment  of  it.     An  abridgment  divides,  a  summary 
combines  and  incorporates  the  different  elements  of  an  idea 
or  a  fact.     In  one  sense,  religion  has  no  parts,  can  not  be 
divided.     Every  hour  of  worship  should  present  an  entire 
Christ  to  the  soul  of  the  believer. 

2.  Express  it  in  a  form  the  most  suitable  to  all,  in  symbols 
and  words.     Every  thing  should  be  quickly  comprehended 
and  vividly  seized.     In  respect  to  symbols,  Christ  has  given 
us  a  model,  in  the  simplicity  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 
To  attain  this  end,  we  need,  more  than  all  things,  a  biblical 
worship. 

3.  Have  a  character  the  most  appropriate  to  awaken  and 
elevate  the  soul,  not  to  distract  and  amuse  it :  little  ceremony, 
but  significant  and  simple.     Our  Liturgy  would  be  improved 
if  it  had  certain  characteristics  which  belong  to  the  worship 
of  other  Churches.    The  Litany,  for  example,  may  seem  ridic- 
ulous ;  but,  in  truth,  there  is  something  in  it  which  represents 
the  normal  state  of  a  soul  which  recollects  itself  in  the  Divine 


COSTUME.  185 

presence.  The  Christian  should  be  a  child,  and  consequently 
should  speak  the  language  of  a  child.  The  simpler,  the  more 
child-like  the  means,  the  better  are  they.  The  Litany  is 
something  child-like  :  This  is  its  excellence,  its  truth.  Every 
Liturgy  should  be  somewhat  lyrical. 

4.  Be  adapted,  as  to  its  extent,  to  the  capacity  of  the  great- 
est number,  be  adjusted  to  the  nature  of  worship  in  general, 
which  is  admiration,  and  raising  the  soul  above  itself  to  an 
unaccustomed  height.  As  soon  as  this  just  measure  is  trans- 
cended, fatigue  begins. 

The  element  of  antiquity,  which  gives  gravity  even  to  a 
Liturgy  composed  of  sacred  elements,  does  this  yet  more  to 
a  Liturgy  essentially  of  human  composition.  It  should  not, 
therefore,  be  retouched  by  the  Church,  except  at  long  inter- 
vals and  with  great  care  ;  and  these  intervals  should  be  pro- 
longed the  more  if  the  Liturgy  was  conceived  as  a  true  Lit- 
urgy, and  not  as  a  dogmatic  treatise.  It  ought  certainly  to 
express  the  faith  of  the  Church,  but,  if  I  may  so  say,  in  a 
contemplative  state.  Much  more  should  a  preacher  abstain, 
except  from  real  necessity  (such  as  public  events,  calamities, 
&c.),  from  making  changes  on  his  own  authority.  A  minis- 
ter is  bound  to  the  Liturgy,  which  is  not  his  own,  which,  in- 
deed, is  the  voice  of  the  flock,  and  to  which  he  does  but  lend 
his  individual  voice.* 

We  should  not  desire,  we  should  fear,  to  see  the  people  con- 
fined to  forms  which  have  lost  their  sense  ;  still,  it  is  useful 
that  there  should  remain  in  worship  something  fixed  and  im- 
mutable. The  people,  to  a  certain  extent,  should  be  kirchlich^ 
that  is  to  say,  attached  to  the  forms  of  their  worship  :  There 
seems  to  be  no  necessity  that  this  should  lead  to  formalisrn.J 

Costume. — Harms  gives  a  singular  explanation  of  cos- 

*  See  Appendix,  note  I,  On  Liturgies,  by  the  Translator. 

t  A  German  adjective,  formed  from  the  word  Kirche,  eglise,  to 
which  the  derivation  ecclesiastique,  according  to  French  usage,  does 
not  correspond. — Edit.  t  "  Wine  congealed  on  the  lees." 


186  RITES. 

tume,  as  being,  according  to  his  idea,  intended  to  conceal 
either  the  too  great  advantages  or  the  too  great  imperfections 
of  the  person.  Our  idea  of  costume  is,  that  it  is  to  efface  (to 
cover)  the  individual  and  the  man  of  the  times.  In  propor- 
tion as  the  spirituality  of  the  flock  increases,  costume  becomes 
less  necessary  ;  it  may  even  become  disagreeable.  In  this 
matter,  I  think  we  ought  to  follow  the  rules  of  the  Church 
to  which  we  prefer  to  belong,  and  to  follow  them  freely. 

Celebration  of  Rites. — The  minister  should  be  on  his 
guard  against  performing  certain  rites,  such  as  baptism  and 
marriage,  in  a  too  perfunctory  and  familiar  manner.  That 
which  to  us  is  a  daily  occurrence,  is  often  a  solemn  one  to  an- 
other. All  this  is  more  impressive  in  other  Liturgies  than  in 
ours,  which,  in  this  particular,  is  poor.  The  more  defective 
are  the  text  and  the  form  of  the  Liturgy,  the  more  of  his  own 
spirit  must  the  minister  put  into  them,  to  give  accent  and 
rhythm  to  all  things,  to  animate  all  rites  by  an  internal  life 
corresponding  to  them.*  Bengelf  recommends  in  these  cases 
great  exactness,  as  the  hearers  readily  reason  from  variable- 
ness in  these  external  acts  to  variableness  in  doctrines.  This 
care  is  not  inconsistent  with  liberty  and  familiarity.  Some, 
from  aversion  to  an  affected  or  formal  gravity,  have  on 
their  part  affected  an  indecent  familiarity.  They  would  not 
have  God  harangued  as  an  earthly  king,  and  so  they  under- 
take to  talk  with  him.  Prayer  is  the  medium.  It  should 
be  presented. 

"  Avec  la  liberte  d'un  fils  devant  son  pere, 
Et  le  saint  tremblement  d'un  pecheur  devant  Dieu."t 

Reception  of  Catechumens. — The  statutes  allow  of  re- 
ceiving them  privately,  provided  it  be  done  in  the  presence 
of  the  pastor's  colleagues,  if  he  have  any,  and  of  the  assess- 
ors of  the  consistory. 

*  "  Enliven  these  solemnities,"  says  Bossuet. 

t  BENGEL'S  Leben,  by  Burk.     Stuttgard,  1831,  p.  112,  $  30. 

$  Cantique  de  A.  M.  ADOLPHE  MONOD,  No.  102,  des  Chants  Chretieru. 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.  187 

The  Lord's  Supper. — I  take  our  Church  as  it  is,  one  with 
the  state,  except  as  each  one's  individual  will  may  distinguish 
him.  Discipline  here  reduces  itself,  even  in  respect  to  scan- 
dalous sinners,  to  a  general  admonition  given  from  the  pulpit, 
and  to  a  private  admonition  to  be  administered  to  those  who 
are  known  to  him,  and  whom  he  expects  to  see  at  the  table. 

The  new  law  says  nothing  as  to  form.  The  former  ordi- 
nances require  the  pastors,  on  presenting  the  bread  and  wine, 
to  use  "  the  words  of  our  Lord"— the  words,  doubtless,  used 
at  the  institution  of  the  supper.  The  ordinances  add  that 
all  the  communicants,  without  distinction,  shall  receive  the 
bread  arid  the  wine  "  after  the  same  manner,"  that  is  to  say, 
I  suppose,  with  the  same  words.  Our  actual  usage  is  not 
conformed  to  this  rule,  which  appears  to  us  a  very  good  one. 
It  is  more  inconvenient  to  address  a  separate  passage  to  each 
person.  The  repetition  of  the  sacramental  word  is  serious, 
imposing,  and  this  word  does  not  lose  its  force. 

It  is  allowable,  and  perfectly  regular,  to  give  the  supper  to 
the  sick  in  their  own  houses ;  but  this  should  be  done  with 
solemnity,  and  so  that  it  may  be  a  communion,  that  is  to 
say,  not  only  should  there  be  assistants,  but  persons  who  par- 
take of  the  supper  with  the  sick. 

As  to  baptism,  without  maintaining  that  we  should  abso- 
lutely refuse  to  administer  it  in  the  house  of  the  parents,  I 
think  we  should  countenance  this  as  little  as  possible,  were 
it  only  to  preserve  the  flock  from  an  error  too  prevalent  on 
the  subject  of  baptism.* 

The  pastor  should  see  that  every  thing  in  the  church  be 
decent,  that  every  thing  proceed  in  proper  order,  from  the 
entrance  to  the  departure,  and  during  the  exercises.  He 
would  do  well  to  prevent  the  plate  from  being  handed  round. 
The  sound  is  not  suitable,  and  may  oblige  some  to  give, 
which  is  wrong,  and  contrary  to  liberty.  It  would  be  bet- 
ter to  place  a  box  at  each  door.  It  matters  not  if  the  col- 
*  See  Acts  of  the  Synod  of  Berne,  c.  xxi.,  p.  40  and  43. 


188  SINGING FUNERALS. 

lection  be  smaller,  as  probably  it  will  be,  "  provided  there  be 
a  willing  mind." — 2  Cor.,  viii.,  12.  Moreover,  St.  Paul  says, 
"  that  your  bounty  may  be  ready,  as  a  matter  of  bounty  (a 
free  gift),  and  not  as  of  covetousness." — 2  Cor.,  ix.,  5.  "  God 
loves  a  cheerful  giver." — 2  Cor.,  ix.,  7. 

Singing  is  more  essential  to  worship  than  is  commonly 
supposed.  It  is  a  language  which  God  has  given  to  man  to 
express  thoughts  which  ordinary  language  can  not  express. 
Besides  what  we  have  said  of  it  (in  affirming  that  worship, 
as  a  whole,  should  have  the  character  of  music),  it  is  an  ex- 
ercise in  which  the  community  unite,  which  gives  believers 
an  active  part  in  worship,  and  in  which  their  liberty  is  more 
complete. 

The  matter  of  singing,  in  general,  is  prescribed  to  us  ;  but 
we  ought  to  use  the  liberty  which  the  law  gives  us  in  the 
choice  of  a  song. 

We  may  sing  too  much  or  too  little  ;  we  should  sing  little 
and  more  often,  three  times,  perhaps.  It  would  be  well  to 
introduce  singing  immediately  after  the  discourse  rather  than 
after  the  prayer  which  follows  it.  This  gives  repose  to  the 
pastor  and  the  hearers,  and  aids  self-possession. 

Funerals  are  the  only  part  of  worship  which  has  place  out 
of  the  confines  of  the  temple,  as  the  supper  and  baptism,  with 
exceptions,  are  celebrated  only  within  them.  It  is  not  to  be 
admitted  that  religion  should  be  visibly  absent  at  funerals  ; 
this  would  be  to  be  less  pious  than  pagans.  Now  it  is  the 
pastor  who  renders  religion  visible  ;  and,  seeing  the  progress 
which  mind  has  made,  if  the  pastor  be  here  wanting,  some  one 
will  take  his  place,  and  make  his  absence  more  manifest,  to 
the  great  disadvantage  of  his  character.  I  would  have  the 
minister  never  absent,  either  from  the  house  of  death  or  from 
the  cemetery.  In  many  houses  the  pastor  offers  a  prayer 
before  going  out ;  but  this  will  not  suffice  ;  he  ought  to  at- 
tend the  burial,  and  there  should  be  another  service  either 
at  the  open  tomb  or  in  the  church.  Some  words  from  the 
Bible,  and  a  prayer  besides,  are  in  all  cases  sufficient. 


SECTION  SECOND. 

v 

INSTRUCTION. 
CHAPTER  I. 

PREACHING. 

§  1 .  Importance  of  Preaching  among  tJie  Functions  of  the 
Ministry. 

WHAT  is  preaching  ?  It  is  the  explication  of  the  word  of 
God,  the  exposition  of  Christian  truths,  and  the  application 
of  those  truths  to  our  flock  ;  all  this,  in  the  presence  of  our 
assembled  flock — I  might  say,  in  public  ;  since  the  Church, 
in  the  view  of  the  multitude  or  mass,  is  regarded  as  a  great 
school,  open  to  every  comer. 

We  have  first  spoken  of  worship,  and  then  of  preaching  as 
included  in  worship,  and  to  be  considered  as  making  a  part 
of  worship,  although  worship  speaks  to  God,  and  preaching 
speaks  of  him  ;  but  it  is  only  in  elevating  his  soul  to  God 
that  one  speaks  worthily  of  him  ;  preaching  which  is  not  of 
the  nature  of  worship  is  not  true  preaching.  Things  which, 
in  a  lower  region,  are  separated,  in  a  higher  one  are  reunited 
and  blended.* 

But  let  us  leave  this,  and  see  what  place  God  himself  has 
given  to  preaching  in  Christianity.  It  is  a  place  greater 
than  preaching  has  in  any  other  religion,  greater  than  it  had 
even  in  the  Jewish  religion.  Christianity  is  a  religion  made 

«  On  the  relative  importance  of  preaching  in  the  pastoral  office, 
see  HARMS. 


190  PREACHING. 

for  thought,  and,  consequently,  for  speech ;  it  represents  it- 
self, it  substantively  manifests  itself  by  speech,  it  propagates 
itself  by  speech.  The  Gospel  is  a  word.  Christ  himself  is 
the  Word,  or  the  Reason.  The  term  is  of  no  importance  ; 
for  the  word  is  reason  expressed,  and  the  reason  is  the  inte- 
rior word.  The  Church  itself  is  truth  thought  in  common, 
spoken  in  common.  In  insisting,  a  while  ago,  on  synthesis 
in  worship,  we  did  not  condemn  speech ;  religion,  it  is  true, 
appears  in  a  complex  state  in  worship,  in  the  soul  and  in  the 
life ;  but  there  is  no  just  sentiment,  no  strong  affection,  which 
does  not  connect  itself  with  a  distinct  idea,  of  which  the  rea- 
son can  not  give  account,  or  which  is  not  founded  on  a  rela- 
tion, the  terms  of  which  are  well  known  and  well  apprecia- 
ted ;  and  this  characteristic  should,  above  all,  belong  to  the 
true  religion,  nay,  to  this  religion  alone.  This  alone  can 
say,  I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed.  In  a  word,  it  is  a 
religion  of  faith  or  of  persuasion,  consequently  a  religion 
which  employs  speech. 

Hence  arises  the  importance  of  preaching.  Our  preach- 
ing, it  is  true,  is  second  hand,  a  preaching  on  a  preaching, 
a  word  on  a  word ;  but  this  matters  not,  preaching  is  neces- 
sary ;  for  this  are  we  sent ;  worship,  simply,  might  be  cele- 
brated by  any  Christian  whatever ;  for  this  no  call  is  neces- 
sary ;  it  is  sufficient  if  the  person  has  no  reason  to  doubt  the 
conformity  of  his  faith  with  this  act.  If  we  should  interro- 
gate ourselves  as  to  a  call,  if  it  is  necessary  we  should  be 
called,  it  is  as  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God,  as  heralds 
or  messengers  of  justice,  as  preachers. 

To  speak  the  truth,  the  whole  ministry  is  preaching.  In- 
stead of  saying  that  preaching  makes  a  part  of  worship,  we 
might  say  that  worship  makes  a  part  of  preaching,  that  rite  is 
a  form  of  instruction.  What  we  here  present,  then,  as  a  spe- 
cies, is,  in  a  certain  sense,  a  genus  ;  but  still  we  may  'so  pre- 
sent it,  since  the  word  preaching,  in  common  language,  means 
a  part,  and  not  the  whole,  of  the  exercise  of  the  ministry. 


IMPORTANCE  OP  PREACHING.  191 

Not  only  should  pastors  preach,  but  we  think,  with  Fene- 
lon,  under  our  own  explanation,  that  it  belongs  to  them  only 
to  preach.*  True  political  eloquence  belongs  only  to  the 
*  statesman ;  true  sacred  eloquence,  only  to  the  statesman  in 
religion  or  religious  affairs,  that  is  to  say,  the  pastor ;  who 
alternately  passes  from  generalities  to  details,  and  from  de- 
tails to  generalities  ;  from  theory  to  practice,  and  from  prac- 
tice to  theory ;  who  has  been  in  contact  with  individuals, 
and  is  familiar  with  their  ways.  If  certain  men  without  a 
parish  are  successful  in  preaching,  it  is  because  they  are  pas- 
tors after  another  manner  and  at  large. 

It  is  true  that  the  primitive  Church  divided  ministerial 
functions.  They  had  Kvt>epvi]rai\  and  6i6danaXoi.\  "Are 
all  apostles  ?  are  all  teachers  ?" — 1  Cor.,  xii.,  29.  But  with- 
out saying  that  gifts  are  here  referred  to,  and  without  speak- 
ing of  what  the  necessity  of  the  times  might  require,  we  may 
hold  that  the  office  of  some  was  absolutely  foreign  to  others. 
At  a  period  when  each  Christian  was  a  minister — when  an 
Aquila  and  a  Priscilla,  simple  artisans,  became  instructors 
of  an  Apollos,  how  can  we  suppose  that  the  teacher  was  not 
a  pastor  ?  We  may  well  think  that  there  were  elders  (npeo- 
dvrepoi)  who  did  not  preach,  but  not  preachers  who  were 
strangers  to  every  other  pastoral  duty  except  preaching. 
Paul  preached  and  governed  :  Timothy  preached  and  gov- 
erned. 

The  pastorate,  then,  is  necessary  to  preaching ;  but  it  is 
yet  more  evident  that  preaching  is  essential  to  the  pastorate, 

*  "  We  must  commonly  leave  preaching  to  pastors.  Thus  shall 
we  give  to  the  pulpit  the  simplicity  and  authority  which  belong  to  it. 
For  pastors,  who  to  experience  in  the  work  and  in  the  conduct  of  souls 
unite  the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  can  speak  in  the  manner  best 
suited  to  the  wants  of  their  hearers ;  whereas  preachers,  who  are 
merely  speculative,  enter  less  into  the  difficulties,  and  can  scarcely 
adapt  themselves  to  the  minds  of  their  hearers,  and  speak  in  a  more 
vague  manner." — FENELON,  Dialogues  sur  VEloquence  (Dialogue  III.). 

t  Governors  or  directors. — Edit.  %  Teachers. 


192  IMPORTANCE    OF    PREACHING. 

and  that  we  can  not  conceive  of  a  pastor  who  does  not  preach ; 
we  would  say,  who  does  not  preach  in  public  (for,  as  respects 
preaching  out  of  season,  who  can  doubt  this  ?)  ;  since,  apart 
from  preaching,  to  the  minister  there  remains  nothing  of 
the  feeder  and  of  the  pastor.  But  public  preaching  is  essen- 
tial to  the  pastorate,  which,  without  this,  can  not  reach  all 
souls,  and  can  not  present  truth  under  the  most  regular  and 
most  general  form.  It  is  the  glory  of  our  Reformation  that 
it  restored  public  preaching  to  the  Church,  I  say  even  to  the 
Catholic  Church.  How  noble  was  it  to  advance  the  priest 
from  the  mere  celebration  of  rites  (which  had  become  a  spe- 
cies of  magic)  to  science,  to  thought,  to  the  word,  to  conflict? 


$  2.  Principles  or  Maxims  which  should  be  maintained  as 
to  Preaching. 

On  the  subject  of  preaching,  we  must  adopt  certain  prin- 
ciples, or  acknowledge  certain  commanding  truths. 

The  first  is,  that  preaching  is  an  action,  a  real  word,  not 
the  imitation  of  a  word,  arid  that  eloquence  is  a  virtue.  Ab- 
stracting art,  preaching  is  a  work  of  love,  a  good  work,  a  good 
office,  a  part  of  the  service  of  God.  But  this  is  only  the  first 
step  :  here  is  the  second. 

Preaching  is  a  mystery.  A  mystery,  I  mean,  as  to  its  action 
and  its  effects,  a  mystery  of  reprobation  and  salvation  ;*  for 
the  word  of  God  (which  we  assume  to  be  in  the  preacher's 
mouth)  does  not  return  to  him  without  some  effect ;  some- 
thing of  truth,  whether  for  gain  or  for  loss,  always  connects 
itself,  and  remains  with  him  who  has  heard  it.  It  is  truly 
mysterious  that  on  the  voice  of  one  man  the  soul  and  the 
eternity  of  another  should  depend.  Mysterious  truly !  a 
mode  of  action  so  peculiar,  so  inexplicable,  the  effect  of  which 
so  far  outreaches  our  calculations,  and  so  often  disappoints 

*  St.  Cyran  calls  it  an  almost  sacrament,  and  more  awful  than  that 
of  the  altar.  (See  in  the  Appendix,  note  B.) 


IMPORTANCE  OP  PREACHING.  193 

our  foresight :  How  often  do  we  see  the  greatest  effects  con- 
nected with  the  smallest  causes,  as  the  smallest  also  with  the 
greatest ;  power  hecoming  feeble,  and  impotence  powerful ; 
one  succeeding  by  another's  shipwreck,  and  vice  versa: 
Laws  there  are,  no  doubt,  but  no  constancy  ;  and  all  rules 
are  subordinated  to  the  liberty  of  the  Spirit,  which  "bloweth 
as  it  listeth." 

All  this  is  awful,  overwhelming,  but  suited  to  empty  us  of 
ourselves.  It  is  evident  that  we  carry  this  treasure  in  earthen 
vessels,  and  that  all  which  depends  on  us  (if  any  thing  does 
depend  on  us)  is  that  the  vessel  has  no  leak  through  which 
the  living  water  may  escape,  and  no  impurity  by  which  it 
may  be  corrupted.  The  rest  belongs  not  to  us ;  and  so  much 
the  less  does  it  belong  to  us,  the  more  we  imagine  that  it 
does.  In  respect  to  preaching,  then,  as  well  as  in  respect  to 
the  whole  work  of  the  ministry,  we  have  cause  to  rejoice  with 
trembling. 

The  sovereignty  of  God  in  this  matter  (the  first  point  to  be 
recognized)  does  not  exclude  human  responsibility.  Preach- 
ing is  an  action,  but  an  action  of  the  soul,  and  its  effects  are 
connected  with  the  preacher's  spiritual  state.  It  is  not  so 
much  by  what  he  says  as  by  what  he  is  that  the  preacher 
may  flatter  himself  that  he  does  not  beat  the  air.  Before 
every  thing,  he  is  concerned  to  "  hold  the  mystery  of  the  faith 
in  a  pure  conscience." — 1  Tim.,  iii.,  9.  This  pure  conscience 
(that  is  to  say,  uprightness  of  intention)  is  the  true  force  of 
preaching.  A  discourse  is  powerful  from  the  motive  of  him 
who  pronounces  it,  whatever  may  be  the  mode  in  which  thai 
motive  expresses  itself.  A  discourse  is  so  much  the  better, 
the  more  it  resembles  an  act  of  contrition,  of  submission,  of 
prayer,  of  martyrdom.  The  preacher  should  regard  himself 
as  "  a  channel  for  what  ought  to  be  conveyed  by  him  into 
the  heart  of  his  hearers."*  "The  ministry  of  the  word," 
says  Fenelon,  "  is  wholly  founded  on  faith."  We  must  pray, 
*  Praktische  Bemerkungen,  etc.,  p.  49. 
I 


194  PROPHESYING. 

we  must  purify  our  heart,  we  must  expect  every  thing  from 
heaven,  we  must  arm  ourselves  with  the  sword  of  the  word 
of  God,  and  not  count  upon  any  thing  in  ourselves :  this  is 
the  essential  preparation."*  In  a  word,  our  lips  are  naturally 
defiled  ;  they  must  he  purged,  and  purged  by  fire.f  In  short, 
preaching,  which  is  a  divine  mystery,  is  also  a  human  action, 
and  the  best  part  of  this  action  is  inward,  spiritual,  anterior 
even  to  the  act  of  composing  the  discourse.  The  discourse 
finishes  the  work  which  prayer  should  begin. 

To  this  general  direction  we  unite  a  more  particular  one, 
which  is  expressed  by  St.  Paul  in  these  words :  "  Let  him 
who  has  received  the  gift  of  prophesying  exercise  it  accord- 
ing to  the  proportion  of  faith  which  he  has  received"  (Rom., 
xii.,  6),  which  further  signifies,  according  to  the  proportion 
of  life  which  he  has  in  him.  It  is  true  that  he  is  obliged  to 
preach  on  a  fixed  and  prescribed  day.  If  he  does  not  always 
find  himself  in  a  frame  for  prophesying  (that  is  to  say,  for 
speaking  with  that  fullness  of  heart,  and  that  force  which 
will  carry  the  hearers  along  with  him),  he  must  confine  him- 
self to  teaching;  that  is  to  say,  treating  a  subject  regularly 
without  aiming  to  impress  any  thing. J  "  Whether  we  be 
beside  ourselves,  it  is  to  God ;  or  whether  we  be  sober,  it  is 
for  your  cause." — 2  Cor.,  v.,  13. 

The  evil  consists  not  in  being  in  one  state  rather  than  an- 
other, but  in  not  exercising  our  gift  according  to  the  measure 
of  faith  and  of  life  with  which  we  ourselves  are  exercised  at 
a  given  moment,  to  wish  to  force  our  state — the  hand  of 

*  FENELON  :  Dialogues  sur  VEloquence  (Dialogue  III.). 

t  "  Then,  said  I,  woe  is  me  !  for  I  am  undone  ;  because  I  am  a  man 
of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  in  the  midst  of  a  people  of  unclean  lips  ; 
for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King,  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Then  flew  one 
of  the  cherubims  unto  me,  having  a  live  coal  in  his  hand,  which  he 
had  taken  with  the  tongs  from  off  the  altar ;  and  he  laid  it  upon  my 
mouth,  and  said,  Lo,  this  hath  touched  thy  lips ;  and  thine  iniquity 'is 
taken  away,  and  thy  sin  purged." — Isaiah,  vi.,  5-7. 

t  Praktische  Bemcrkungen,  p.  37,  38. 


TEACHING.  195 

God ;  to  think  that  a  blessing  may  be  connected  with  a  de- 
ception ;  for  there  is  deception  when  our  thought  is  surpassed 
by  our  word.  "We  would  always  be  very  eloquent ;  we  must 
content  ourselves  sometimes  with  being  sober,  humble,  and 
feeble.  A  discourse  cold  and  feeble,  but  honest,  will  often  be 
more  blessed  than  an  ?loquent  discourse,  which  transcends 
the  inward  frame. 

There  is,  moreover,  in  preaching  an  action  more  intellect- 
ual, more  our  own  still.  Neither  the  sovereignty  of  God 
nor  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  action  diminishes  its  import- 
ance or  impairs  its  necessity.  God  does  not  intend  that  a 
good  and  a  bad  instrument  should  give  the  same  sounds,  and 
indeed  they  do  not.  I  admit  that  the  power  of  God  honors 
itself  in  our  weakness,  but  not  in  our  voluntary  weakness, 
which  is  but  a  diminution  of  the  strength  He  has  given  us, 
and  a  throwing  away,  so  to  speak,  or  a  despising  a  part  of 
His  grace.  The  more  we  feel  the  seriousness,  the  "responsi- 
bility, the  danger  of  our  mission,  the  more  shall  we  be  in- 
duced to  watch,  to  exercise  forethought,  to  make  provision  : 
Our  own  little  providence  enters  into  the  account  in  t^-e  cal- 
culations of  the  providence  of  God.  It  was  said  to  men  once 
that  they  should  not  concern  themselves  as  to  what  they 
should  speak,  expecting  that  what  they  ought  to  speak  would 
be  suggested  to  them  at  the  time.  —  Mark,  xiii.,  11.  But 
this  has  not  been  said  to  us,  at  least  not  in  an  absolute  man- 
ner. We  must,  then,  bestow  pains  upon  preaching;  we  must 
preach  well.  Homiletics  have  no  other  object  than  to  initiate 
us.  They  will  be  the  most  careful  in  preparation  who  best 
know  that  they  can  do  nothing,  and  that  they  are  nothing. 

But  an  objection  here  occurs  :  May  we  both  preach  much 
and  preach  well  ?  They  who  make  this  objection  assume  as 
evident,  or  at  least  take  for  granted,  that  we  ought  to  preach 
much.  All  are  not  of  this  opinion  ;  we  must,  then,  in  the 
first  place,  clear  this  point. 

As  it  is  evident  that  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  multiply 


196  FREaUENCY    OF    PREACHING. 

the  hours  of  worship  which  the  law  has  numbered  and  pre- 
scribed to  us,  the  assertion  that  we  should  preach  much  sig- 
nifies either  that  the  law  ought  to  multiply  the  occasions  of 
worship,  or  that,  apart  from  the  places  and  days  which  it  has 
consecrated,  the  minister  ought  to  teach,  to  explain,  to  ex- 
hort. I  suppose  that,  in  one  way  or  another,  the  pastor  is  at 
liberty  to  give  his  flock  the  bread  of  the  word  often,  and  if 
he  may,  why,  I  ask,  should  he  not  ?  In  all  cases,  there  are, 
doubtless,  metes  arid  bounds ;  but  surely  it  is  proper  that  there 
should  be  an  abundance  of  what  is  good  and  useful ;  and  it 
would  be  a  calamity,  in  order  to  make  preaching  more  sol- 
emn, or  more  perfect  in  a  literary  respect,  to  make  more 
scarce  a  word  which  can  not  too  much  abound,  and  which 
seldom  reaches  the  human  heart,  except  at  the  price  of  a  fre- 
quent repetition.  There  are  various  opinions  on  this  subject. 
Some  recommend  frequent  preaching,*  as  I  have  done  ;  oth- 
ers think  the  obligation  to  preach  often  oppressive,  especially 
to  young  ecclesiastics.! 

We  should  distinguish,  I  think,  between  parochial,  official 
preaching  (which  is  not  frequent,  and,  of  course,  leaves  the 
objection  without  force),  and  preaching  "  out  of  season." 
But  supposing  that  official  preaching  were  more  frequent, 
and  the  objection  consequently  in  force,  what  is  the  answer? 

We  must  not  reply  by  making  a  distinction  between  places ; 
for  good  preaching  is  as  necessary,  as  difficult,  in  the  country 
as  in  the  city.  In  this  respect  a  prejudice  is  still  prevalent. 
Harms,!  on  this  subject,  relates  a  passage  in  the  life  of  An- 
dreas, who,  after  having  preached  without  preparation  to  a 
country  congregation,  said  to  his  son,  "Did  you  not  observe 
my  distress  and  my  hesitation  ?  They  were  such  that  I  was 
upon  the  point  of  leaving  the  pulpit.  Never  have  I  been  as 
near  losing  all  presence  of  mind  as  before  these  poor  peas- 
ants. The  grace  of  God  almost  wholly  forsook  me,  because  I 

*  DE  BAUDRY  :   Guide  du  Prfdicateur,  p.  114. 

'•   HARMS  :  Pastaraltheologie,  tome  i.,  p.  39.  J  Tome  i.,  p  49 


GENERAL    PREPARATION.  197 

despised  this  poor  people  as  not  deserving  the  trouble  of  a  care- 
ful preparation.  Let  my  experience  make  you  wiser,  my  son." 

We  make  no  distinction,  then,  but  say  that  there  should 
be  a  general  preparation  for  preaching ;  a  thorough  and  con- 
tinual study  of  the  flock,  of  human  life,  of  ourselves,  and  of 
the  Bible  ;  a  habit  of  disciplining  our  mind  and  arranging 
our  ideas,  which  will  never  leave  us  at  a  loss  in  a  simple  ad- 
dress or  a  familiar  exposition  of  the  Bible.  I  would  not  have 
this  done  without  special  preparation  ;  but  a  very  short  one 
may  suffice.* 

It  is  this  general  preparation,  and  not  natural  talent  only, 
which  explains  the  never  fruitless  abundance  of  Calvin,  who 
in  ten  years  preached  four  thousand  and  twenty-four  ser- 
mons— that  is  to  say,  four  a  week  ;  and  of  Whitefield,  who 
in  thirty-four  years  preached  eighteen  thousand  sermons,  or 
ten  a  week.  The  parochial  preacher  is  to  be  distinguished 

*  "  But  you  have  naturally,  you  say,  a  memory  which  unfits  you  for 
speaking  in  public ;  but  is  not  your  heart  as  faithless  and  as  rebell- 
ious as  your  memory  1  The  solemn,  the  holy  ministry  of  pastoral  in- 
struction is  not  a  dry  and  puerile  exercise  of  memory  ;  it  is  the  heart, 
it  is  the  inmost  soul,  that  must  now  speak.  Ah  !  my  dear  brethren, 
if  we  contemplate  the  truths  of  religion  in  the  holy  books — if  we  love 
them — if  we  nourish  ourselves  by  them — if  we  make  them  our  com- 
mon and  most  delightful  study,  we  shall  not  be  so  greatly  troubled 
when  duty  requires  us  to  present  them  to  our  people.  We  soon  learn 
to  speak  what  we  love  ;  the  heart  supplies  us  much  better  than  the 
memory,  and  has  also  a  language  which  the  memory  does  not  know. 
A  holy  pastor,  moved  by  God,  and  by  regard  to  the  salvation  of  the 
souls  which  are  confided  to  him,  finds,  in  the  liveliness  of  his  zeal,  and 
the  fullness  of  his  heart,  expressions  having  the  impress  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  spirit  of  love  and  of  light,  a  thousand  times  more  power- 
ful to  move,  to  reclaim  sinners,  than  all  those  which  are  furnished 
by  labor  and  the  vain  artifice  of  human  eloquence.  Do  not,  then,  say 
that  you  have  no  talent.  The  talent  of  an  orator  is  not  what  is  re- 
quired :  it  is  the  talent  of  a  father ;  and  what  other  talent  does  a  fa- 
ther need  in  speaking  to  his  children  but  affection  for  them,  and  a  de- 
sire for  their  welfare." — MASSILLON  :  Dix-seplicme  Disccura  Synodal; 
de  I' Observance  des  Staluts  ct  dcs  Ordonnanccs  du  Diocese. 


198  SPECIAL    PREPARATION. 

from  the  Reformer  and  the  missionary ;  but  why  should  he 
not,  in  a  small  measure,  be  both  ?  He  is,  in  effect,  nothing 
if  he  does  not  combine  these  two  characters  ;  for,  excepting 
some  souls  that  belong  to  him,  or,  rather,  to  God,  all  the  rest 
are  to  be  conquered.  We  often  have  a  false  image  of  a  par- 
ish, and  it  is  well  that  Christian  zeal  has  promoted  acolyths 
to  regular  pastors. 

We  repeat  that  it  is  not  proper  to  distinguish  between  places 
(country  and  city);  we  may,  however,  distinguish  between 
sermons — some  more  after  the  manner  of  a  treatise,  others  of 
a  familiar  exposition  or  address.  Our  time  should  be  chiefly 
given  to  the  first.  We  add,  thirdly,  that  we  should  have  more 
time  if,  on  the  one  hand,  we  would  learn  to  substitute  force 
for  time,  the  intensive  for  the  extensive  ;*  on  the  other,  if  we 
would  addict  ourselves  to  recollection,  to  solitude,  to  making 
thorough  work  with  every  subject  that  engages  us,  to  using 
every  moment  to  advantage.! 

We  must  not  delay  preparation.  Reinhard  relates  that,  be- 
ing often  engaged  in  occupations  which  absorbed  the  greater 
part  of  his  time,  and  being  subject,  at  certain  seasons,  to  sud- 
den indispositions  which  incapacitated  him  for  application,  he 
formed  the  resolution  never  to  delay  to  the  last  moment  the 
composition  of  his  sermons  ;  and  that  he  also  made  it  a  rule 
never  to  preach  one  sermon  without  having  prepared  that 
which  was  to  follow  it.  He  felicitated  himself  that  he  had 
formed  this  habit,  as  it  saved  him  from  the  embarrassment 
of  having  to  preach  without  sufficient  preparation,  or  after  a 
hasty  preparation ;  and  as  it  enabled  him  to  work  over  his 
sermons  when  it  happened  that,  in  composing  them,  he  did 
not  succeed  altogether  as  he  wished. $ 

*  Intensity  for  length. — Edit. 

t  M.  Durand  meditated  in  the  streets,  and  he  was  sometimes  seen 
going  into  alleys  to  take  notes. 

t  Lcttres  de  Reinhard  sur  Ics  Etudes  et  sa  Carriere  de  Predicateur,  tra- 
duite  de  VAllemand,  par  J.  MONOD.  Paris,  1816,  p.  77,  78. 


EXTEMPORANEOUS    PREACHING.  199 

The  question  of  preaching  extempore  naturally  presents  it- 
self here.  Opinions  on  this  point  are  various.  "While  there 
are  so  many  pressing  necessities  in  Christianity,"  says  Fene- 
lon  ;  "while  the  priest,  who  ought  to  be  a  man  of  God,  pre- 
pared to  every  good  work,  should  hasten  to  eradicate  igno- 
rance and  scandals  from  the  field  of  the  Church,  I  think  it  is 
very  unworthy  of  him  to  be  passing  his  life  in  his  closet  in 
rounding  periods,  in  retouching  descriptions,  and  in  inventing 
divisions ;  for,  when  one  gets  into  the  way  of  this  kind  of 
preaching,  he  has  time  to  do  nothing  else  ;  he  can  pursue  no 
other  study,  no  other  labor  ;  nay,  more,  to  relieve  himself  he  is 
often  obliged  to  repeat  continually  the  same  sermons.  What 
eloquence  is  that  of  a  man  whose  hearer  knows  beforehand 
all  his  expressions  and  all  his  moving  appeals  ?  A  likely 
way,  indeed,  to  surprise,  to  astonish,  to  soften,  to  convince, 
and  to  persuade  men  !  a  strange  method  of  concealing  art 
and  letting  nature  speak.  For  my  part,  I  say  frankly  that 
all  this  offends  me.  What !  shall  a  steward  of  the  mysteries 
of  God  be  an  idle  declaimer,  jealous  of  his  reputation,  and 
ambitious  of  vain  pomp  ?  Shall  he  not  venture  to  speak  of 
God  to  his  people  without  having  arranged  all  his  words,  and 
learned,  like  a  school-boy,  his  lesson  by  heart?"* 

We  elsewhere  read  :  "  Although  it  is  the  custom  in  some 
countries  to  read  sermons,  or,  at  least,  to  write  and  repeat 
them,  which  is  necessary  in  certain  places,  where  the  preach- 
er may  be  obliged  to  produce  his  discourse  as  written  after 
having  delivered  it  ;  still,  generally  speaking,  such  a  way  of 
preaching  does  not  seem  to  produce  as  much  impression  on 
the  hearers  as  free  discourse,  which  induces  me  to  prefer 
this  last  method. "t 

Harms,  on  the  contrary,  would  have  tke  sermon  wholly 

*  FENELON  :  Dialogues  sur  V Eloquence  (Dialogue  III.).  See  also  Dia- 
logue II. 

t  Praktische  Bemerkungen  die  Fiihrung  des  cvangelischen  FretHgtain- 
tes  bctre/end. — HKRNHUTT,  p.  47. 


200        PREPARATION  OF  THE  PREACHER. 

written  out :  "  If  the  majority  of  your  hearers  do  not  remark 
a  badly -managed  transition,  a  blank,  a  vulgar  or  obscure 
word,  an  equivocal  or  unintelligible  proposition  ;  if  they  do 
not  perceive  that  your  preaching  is  without  profound  thought, 
or  that  you  never  cite  any  other  than  the  most  familiar  pas- 
sages of  the  Bible,  or  that  your  expressions  are  too  studied, 
yet  be  sure  that,  in  the  number  of  those  who  hear  you,  there 
will  be  some  who  will  not  fail  to  see  all  this,  and  who  will 
think  ill  of  you  for  not  being  better  prepared."* 

Spener  made  it  a  rule,  up  to  1675,  to  write  and  to  com- 
mit his  sermons  to  memory.  Afterward,  yielding  to  the 
counsels  of  friends,  he  preached  for  a  certain  time  from  mi- 
nute notes ;  but  he  soon  returned  to  his  first  method,  and 
never  afterward  forsook  it.  He  recommends  in  all  things 
a  serious  meditation  on  the  substantive  subject-matter,  rath- 
er than  on  the  form  to  be  given  to  the  sermon,  a  meditation 
to  be  accompanied  by  fervent  prayer  ;  and  he  advises  preach- 
ers, particularly  those  who,  having  a  facility  of  speaking 
without  preparation,  may  be  more  disposed  to  yield  them- 
selves to  indolence,  to  reserve  a  fixed  time  for  this  exercise.^ 

If  we  were  required  to  give  a  general  rule,  we.  should  say 
that  a  preacher  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  carefully  pre- 
pared. The  preparation  may  be  made  in  different  methods. 
Some  say  they  can  not  prepare  without  writing,  and  can  not 
preach  without  reciting  what  they  have  written  ;  others 
maintain  that  they  can  not  prepare  in  this  way,  because  they 
are  not  able  to  fix  in  their  memory  a  written  sermon.  We 
must  discard  these  two  impossibilities  :  the  minister  should 
be  able  to  speak  without  having  written,  and  every  minister 
should  have  it  in  his  power  to  learn  a  sermon  which  he  has 
composed.  Some,  it  is  true,  though  a  very  small  number, 
have  so  treacherous  a  memory  that  we  can  not  oblige  them 
to  learn  and  recite.  These  have  no  liberty  of  choice,  and  the 

*  Pastordtheologie,  tome  i.,  p.  48,  49. 

t  See  BURK,  Pastarallheologic,  tome  i.,  p.  164. 


PREPARATION  OF  THE  PREACHER.         201 

mode  of  their  preparations  is  prescribed  to  them  by  necessity  ; 
but  then  they  are  exceptions,  which  are  very  rare.  Now,  all 
that  we  can  recommend,  in  general,  is  preparation.  If  we 
do  not  recite  a  sermon  written  and  learned  beforehand,  even 
this  preparation,  in  order  to  be  complete  and  sufficient,  will 
require  more  care  and  labor,  a  more  intense  and  vigorous  ef- 
fort. Extemporizing  can  not  be  authorized,  unless  when  it 
be  such  as  can  hardly  take  this  name.  The  sermon  ought 
to  be  well  and  solidly  prepared.  Without  this,  we  run  the 
risk  of  becoming  always  more  careless,  and  of  contenting 
ourselves  with  what  costs  us  little.  In  general,  the  young 
preacher  should  write  and  recite.  Let  him  take  care,  how- 
ever, and  seek  to  acquire  the  memory  of  ideas  with  and  bo- 
fore  that  of  words.  He  will  thus  prepare  himself  for  a  freer 
way  of  preaching.  As  to  extemporaneous  preaching,  proper- 
ly so  called,'  we  absolutely  reject  this  method.  Great  ora- 
tors, Bossuet,  Fenelon,  etc.,  have  fallen  by  it,  not  only  below 
themselves,  but  below  ordinary  preachers.  ,  We  may,  how- 
ever, extemporize  if  it  be  unavoidable  ;  an  occasion  may  oc- 
cur, and  even  frequently,  when  the  preacher  may  either  find 
himself,  after  having  entered  the  pulpit,  induced  to  make 
changes  in  a  sermon  which  he  has  written,  or  be  in  unfore- 
seen circumstances,  which  require  him  to  speak  without  prep- 
aration. 

Spiritual  meditation  before  preaching  is  of  great  import- 
ance. "  He  must,"  says  St.  Cyran,  "  labor  long  at  mortifi- 
cation of  spirit,  seeing  that  we  ought  to  be  more  afraid  of 
offending  God  in  the  pulpit  than  elsewhere."* 

"  The  best  preparation  for  preaching,"  it  is  said  in  the 
practical  observations  of  Hernhutt,  "is  daily  communion 
with  Christ,  watching  our  own  heart,  and  constant  reading 
of  the  word  of  God.  Thus  is  secured  that  precious  simplic- 
ity which  has  always  been  the  chief  characteristic  of  all  the 
distinguished  witnesses  of  the  grace  of  Christ." 

*  ST.  CTRIN  :  Lettret  d  M.  Le  Reboura.     Lettre  XXXI. 
I  2 


202  OBJECT    OF    PREACHING. 

§  3.  Object  of  Preaching. 

The  object  of  preaching  (of  every  sermon,  I  mean)  should 
be  "  Jesus  Christ  crucified,  who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wis- 
dom, righteousness,  sanctification,  and  redemption." — 1  Cor., 
i.,  30.  In  every  sermon  we  must  either  start  from  Christ  or 
come  to  him.  The  whole  of  Christianity  should  be  in  every 
sermon,  in  this  sense  that  sanctification  never  appear  in  it 
independent  of  faith,  nor  faith  separate  from  sanctification. 
Where  this  combination  does  not  appear  of  itself,  where  these 
two  elements  are  not  so  incorporated  and  consubstantial,  the 
one  with  the  other,  that  it  is  morally  and  rationally  impos- 
sible to  speak  of  one  without  speaking  of  the  other,  there  no 
true  Gospel  is  present,  and  that  which  is  preached  is  not  the 
Gospel. 

It  is  according  to  this  sense  that  we  must  understand  the 
words  of  St.  Paul :  "  I  determined  not  to  know  any  thing 
among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified." — 1  Cor., 
ii.,  2.  These  words  signify,  first,  that  St.  Paul  did  not  seek 
and  did  not  publish  salvation  in  any  other  than  Jesus  Christ ; 
but  they  also  signify  that  in  whatever  he  taught  he  return- 
ed to  this,  came  back  to  this,  that  this  was  every  where  pres- 
ent in  his  preaching,  actually  or  virtually,  as  substance  or 
as  savor.  But  these  same  words  do  not  signify  absolutely 
that  St.  Paul  knew  nothing  else.  On  the  contrary,  he  knew, 
and  the  true  pastor,  after  his  example,  should  know,  a  great 
deal  else.  It  is  true,  very  often,  that  a  preacher  who  liter- 
ally knows  nothing  but  Christ  crucified,  who  puts  nothing 
but  this  in  his  sermons,  may  produce  excellent  effects ;  so 
great  is  the  value  and  the  expansive  force  of  the  Christian 
doctrine.  But  this  does  not  form  the  rule  :  The  rule  rather 
is  to  show,  to  enforce  the  relation  of  religion  to  whatever 
pertains  to  man  and  to  human  life.  So  far  from  having  us 
ignorant  of  every  thing,  the  rule  much  rather  would  have  U3 
know,  or  at  least  understand,  every  thing ;  not  in  order  to 


UNITY    OF    PREACHING.  203 

declare,  not  in  order  to  display  in  the  pulpit  an  encyclopedia 
of  knowledge,  but  that  nothing  may  be  said  which  may  meet 
a  contradiction,  or  that  will  not  find  confirmation  in  facts  ; 
and  also  that  every  thing  which  we  speak  may  be  more  di- 
rect, more  striking,  more  true.  There  are  a  thousand  things 
which  we  should  never  speak  of  in  the  pulpit,  of  which, 
nevertheless,  we  should  not  be  ignorant ;  and  an  experienced 
hearer  will  discern  hi  a  sermon  which  speaks  only  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  of  religion  the  imprint  or  the  reflection  of  divers- 
ified knowledge,  which  the  orator  does  not  outwardly  pro- 
duce, but  which  turns  within  him  in  succum  et  sanguinem. 
Besides,  we  can  not  in  all  cases  say  beforehand  what  a  Chris- 
tian orator  should  or  should  not  speak.  Necessarily,  he  is  to 
speak  of  human  life  ;  and,  to  be  instructive,  he  must  enter  into 
details  :  Who  may  say  where  is  the  limit.  What  would  be 
superfluous  in  certain  times  or  in  certain  places,  in  others 
would  be  no  more  than  necessary. 

In  theology,  it  is  very  necessary  to  distinguish  between 
doctrine  and  morality  ;  but  a  nice  distinction  between  ser- 
mons on  doctrine  and  sermons  on  morality  is  of  small  import- 
ance to  a  Christian  preacher.  Doctrine  and  morality,  which 
are  interfused,  identified  in  the  Christian  heart,  should  be  so 
in  Christian  preaching.  I  would  have  no  other  rule  than 
this  :  let  doctrine  abound  in  moral  preaching,  and  morality 
abound  in  doctrinal  preaching.  But,  without  doubt,  a  preach- 
er should  oblige  himself  to  give  to  his  parishioners  instruc- 
tion, both  moral  and  doctrinal,  as  complete  as  possible. 


§4.    Unity  of  Preaching. 

What  we  have  now  said  leads  us  to  observe,  that  preaching 
in  a  parish  should  be  regarded  as  a  whole,  and  not  be  made 
up  of  detached  discourses,  of  each  of  which  chance  alone  has 
furnished  the  subject.  It  is  one  continuous  action  ;  it  is  only 
one  and  the  same  sermon  formed  of  many  consecutive  sermons. 


204  UNITY    OF    PREACHING. 

This  may  be  so,  it  should  be  so,  even  when  we  pursue  nei- 
ther a  systematic  order  of  subjects,  nor  preach  on  a  book  or 
books  of  the  Bible.  Both  these  methods  have  their  utility. 
The  one  relieves  us  of  the  trouble  of  choosing  a  text,  the 
other  that  of  choosing  a  subject.  There  is  a  conseculiveness 
— a  progress  in  them  also,  which  interests  and  which  attracts. 

But  even  without  following  either  of  these  courses,  the 
true  pastor  will  have  one  marked  out  to  him  by  his  own  ob- 
servation and  experience. 

In  order  to  this,  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  regard  the 
parish  as  a  whole — a  unit,  as  it  is  to  every  intelligent  ob- 
server. It  has  a  life,  the  phases  of  which  are  successive  : 
it  receives  from  our  ministry  a  development  which  author- 
izes and  urges  us  to  modify  our  preaching.  There  is,  there 
ought  to  be,  between  the  pastor  and  his  flock  a  common  life. 
a  reciprocal  sensation,  which  conforms  the  auditor}'  to  the 
preacher  and  the  preacher  to  the  auditory.  When  the  preach- 
er has  not  received  from  his  life  as  a  pastor  the  word  of  com- 
mand as  to  his  successive  preachings,  we  may  doubt  wheth- 
er his  ministry  is  well  understood  and  well  discharged. 

In  a  congregation  where  there  are  two  pastors,  who  preach 
by  turns  to  the  same  auditory,  it  is  very  desirable  that  there 
should  be  so  much  union,  and  so  much  mutual  confidence 
and  agreement  between  them,  as  to  enable  them  to  suit  their 
sermons  to  one  another,  so  that  they  form,  in  a  certain  sense, 
but  one  instance  of  preaching,  only  one  whole,  in  which  rep- 
etition is  avoided  no  less  than  contradiction. 


§  5.  Different  Classes  combined  in  the  same  Auditory. 

The  unity  of  the  parish  is  consistent  with  classes,  and  class- 
es very  distinct. 

In  a  religious  view,  there  are  the  converted  and  the  un 
converted  ;  or,  if  we  will,  those  who  have  not  yet  received 
the  Gospel — whether  they  admit  or  reject  revelation,  or 


OP    THE    AUDITOEY.  205 

whether  they  are  in  doubt  on  this  subject,  or  whether  it  is 
vague  and  confused  in  their  apprehension,  all,  however,  in 
this  respect  equal,  that  the  cross  of  Jesus  is  yet  to  them 
a  stumbling-block  or  foolishness — and  those  who,  consenting 
to  seek  their  salvation  in  Jesus  Christ,  need  henceforth  to  be 
more  and  more  confirmed  in  their  hope,  and  to  walk  with 
more  steadfast  step  in  the  way  in  which  Christ  himself  walk- 
ed. Shall  we  preach  alternately  to  these  two  classes  ?  or, 
should  we  not  rather  introduce  into  each  discourse  something 
suited  to  both?  I  think  it  essential  to  speak  in  such  a  way 
that  no  one  may  deceive  himself  as  to  the  unchangeable  con- 
dition of  salvation,  and,  what  comes  to  the  same  thing,  of 
sanctification.  This  secured,  explicit  and  formal  classifica- 
tions do  not  seem  to  me  generally  necessary ;  and  I  think 
they  are  subject  to  more  than  one  inconvenience,  especially 
when  they  assume,  as  they  commonly  do  with  certain  preach- 
ers, a  direct  and  allocutive  form.  As  occasion  may  require, 
describe  the  situation  of  each  of  these  classes,  but  do  not 
give  ihemform;  do  not  design  them ;  do  not  teach  your  au- 
ditory to  divide  themselves  into  envious  and  hostile  groups.* 
The  auditory,  no  doubt,  includes  many  sorts  of  men  ;  nay, 
more,  it  includes  so  many  shades  of  character,  that  your  word 
can  not  suffice  for  all.  We  speak  of  sermons  of  appeal  and 
sermons  of  sanctification  :  let  us  make  both  ;  or,  let  the  same 
discourse  exhibit  both  elements  successively  ;  but  let  us  bear 
well  in  mind  that  the  word  of  appeal  applies  to  those  who 
have  already  responded  to  the  appeal,  and  the  word  of  sanc- 
tification to  those  who  have  not  responded  to  it.  In  one 
sense  all,  even  the  most  advanced,  have  need  to  be  called 

*  "  To  separate  your  hearers  into  two  classes,  and  to  apostrophize 
them,  one  after  another,  in  these  terms  :  Ye  sinners  who  have  been 
graciously  accepted ;  ye  awakened  sinners,  and  ye  unrepentant  sin- 
ners, tends  only  to  irritation.  Hold  up  to  all  the  clear  mirror  of  the 
Gospel,  and  each  one,  beholding  himself  in  it,  will  see  in  what  class 
he  ought  to  place  himself." — Praktischt  Bcmerkungen,  p.  33. 


206  OF    THE    AUDITORY. 

anew ;  and  the  most  alienated  and  the  greatest  strangers  may 
be  called  by  a  sermon  of  sanctification.  Of  this  there  are  a 
thousand  examples.  Conversion  is  but  a  moment  in  sancti- 
fication, and  sanctification  is  but  conversion  repeated  (con- 
tinued) and  prolonged. 

The  auditory  is  susceptible  of  further  divisions.  The  only 
distinction  of  importance  is  that  between  the  wise  and  the 
ignorant.  St.  Paul  declares  that  he  was  debtor  to  both.  I 
would  not  that  the  wants  of  the  wise  should  be  neglected ; 
but,  certain  cases  excepted,  which  may  be  easily  represented, 
and  of  which  the  reckoning  is  soon  made,  we  have  before  us 
an  auditory,  mixed,  of  the  wise  and  the  ignorant,  and  in  which 
the  ignorant  make  the  majority.  Now  what  for  the  second 
is  necessary  is  not  unsuitable  to  the  first;  but  what  is  proper 
to  the  first  is  not  suitable  to  the  second.  A  man  who  un- 
derstands his  subject  and  his  work  can  speak  to  the  ignorant 
in  a  manner  interesting  and  instructive  to  the  wise.  Depth 
and  simplicity  meet  at  the  same  point.  Have  you  an  audi- 
ence composed  of  forty-nine  wise  and  one  ignorant  ?  speak 
for  that  ignorant  one.  It  is  more  necessary  to  efface  than  to 
render  prominent  the  differences  which  exist  among  the  dif- 
ferent classes  of  an  audience.  The  accidental,  individual 
man  should  disappear,  and  give  place  to  the  universal  man. 
In  this  consists  the  force  of  the  ministry,  the  greatness  and 
power  of  eloquence.  Study  your  discourse  with  reference  to 
all  your  hearers  indiscriminately ;  but  give  no  particular 
class  occasion  to  think  that  you  design  to  flatter  their  ears 
and  obtain  their  favor.  In  Germany  they  make  sermons  fur 
Gebildete.*  "What  are  these  ?  Great  eloquence  is  popu- 
lar :  great  orators  have  been  popular  ones.  Bourdaloue  him- 
self was  such,  with  all  his  knowledge  of  composition 

*  For  educated  people. — Edit. 


POPULARITY FAMILIARITY.  207 

V.,  _v  "  ^_-£-  _, 

$  6.  Popularity,  Familiarity,  Unction. 

Popularity  and  familiarity  are  two  similar  though  distinct 
qualities".  The  first  respects,  in  the  auditory,  only  the  peo- 
ple— man  ;  familiarity  regards  the  relations  not  only  of  re- 
ligion to  man,  but  of  the  pastor  to  the  parish,  which  is  as 
his  family.  Familiarity  is  not  vulgarity  ;  it  consists  with 
nobleness  ;  and,  well  conceived,  it  is  the  noblest  language. 
In  this  familiarity  of  the  pastor  with  his  parish  there  is 
something  of  the  grasping  of  a  naked  hand  by  another  naked 
hand.  The  warmth  of  life  is  reciprocally  felt  when  the  hands 
are  ungloved,  that  there  may  be  nothing  intervening  between 
man  and  rnan. 

AutJiority,  in  the  objective  sense,  is  the  right  or  privilege 
of  being  obeyed  or  believed  ;  subjectively,  it  is  the  conscious- 
ness of  this  right.  A  preacher  speaks  with  authority  when 
we  perceive  in  his  language  a  sense  of  this  right,  and  that 
this  sense  is  what  it  should  be. 

In  the  second  sense,  we  may  say  that  authority  is  generally 
essential  to  eloquence,  essential  especially  to  preaching,  and 
that  it  comes  well  from  all.  But  it  has  its  conditions,  its 
means,  its  obstacles. 

In  general,  to  speak  with  authority,  we  must  be  convinced 
of  the  truth  of  what  we  say,  have  confidence  in  the  intrinsic 
power  of  truth,  and  be  penetrated  with  the  interest  we  de- 
fend. We  must  also  have  a  certain  confidence  in  ourselves. 
I  do  not  mean  self-importance.  These  qualities  affect  the 
hearers  immediately  and  mediately  ;  immediately  by  their 
own  influence  :  we  believe  willingly  in  one  who  himself  is 
a  believer  ;  mediately,  by  the  calmness,  the  serenity,  which 
they  impart.  More  is  revealed  than  is  spoken. 

As  to  the  preacher  in  particular,  his  authority  comes  from 
his  speaking  not  in  his  own  name,  but  in  the  name  of  God, 
and  from  his  depending  not  on  the  power  of  his  word,  but  on 
the  power  of  the  word  and  Spirit  of  God  ;  finally,  from  his 


AUTHORITY    OF    THE    PREACHER. 

expecting  his  approval  from  God.  Hence  authority  in  him 
should  be  regarded  as  a  duty. 

What  he  adds  to  this  from  his  own  fund,  experience  of  the 
truth,*  and  the  conformity  of  his  life  to  his  doctrine.t  per- 
tains to  causes  before  mentioned  ;  it  is  not  the  source,  it  is 
derived  from  the  source.  Even  with  convinced,  established, 
and  pious  men,  authority  is  diminished  by  excess  of  reasoning 
and  by  vehemence. 

The  preacher  certainly  ought  to  demonstrate,  that  others 
may  share  his  own  conviction  ;  but  it  often  suffices  to  show, 
as  most  splendidly  did  Jesus  Christ.  In  fact,  Christian  truth 
is  perceived  by  intuition.  Free  exposition  doubtless  does 
much ;  but  we  greatly  obstruct  our  pathj  by  the  language 
of  asseveration,  and  at  the  same  time  we  diminish  our  au- 
thority. It  is  not,  however,  implied  that  we  should  so  de- 
inean  ourselves  as  to  say,  Believe  because  I  believe.  In  one 
way  or  another,  the  force  of  demonstration  must  be  in  what 
we  utter. 

Vehemence  lessens  authority.  It  is  in  place  on  certain 
occasions,  but  the  ordinary  tone  of  preaching  is  a  tranquil 
force.  Serenity  is  more  impressive.  Bourdaloue  had  a  sor- 
rowful calmness,  Bossuet  a  luminous  serenity. 

Has  the  Protestant  preacher  an  authority  equal  to  that  of 
the  Catholic  ?  The  Catholic  is  supported  by  an  imposing 
human,  and  of  course  factitious,  authority.  In  him  the  re- 
ligion, so  to  speak,  gives  her  authority  to  her  minister.  The 
Protestant  is  the  representative  of  free  investigation  ;  he  has 
no  support  but  from  himself;  he  speaks  as  an  individual ; 
has  he  not,  however,  enough  of  authority  if  he  be  a  Chris- 
tian ?  In  the  Protestant  Church,  one  may  have  a  certain 

*  "  That  which  was  from  the  beginning,  which  we  have  heard, 
which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  and  which  our  hands  have  han- 
dled of  the  word  of  life." — 1  John,  i.,  1. 

t  "  Nil  conscire  sibi." — HORAT.  :  Epist.,  lib.  i.,  v.  61. 

i  French,  On  croite  le  fer. 


AUTHORITY    OF    THE    PREACHER.  209 

Catholicism  which  lends  to  the  minister  as  much  authority  as 
Catholicism,  in  the  proper  sense,  does  to  the  priest.  As  the 
law  makes  the  whole  community  a  Church,  there  is  a  com- 
pact mass  (a  unit),  which  gives  authority  to  the  minister. 
The  march  of  thought,  on  this  point,  has  put  men  very  much 
at  their  ease.  In  our  times,  the  majority  is  dissolved,  or, 
rather,  the  true  majority  is  discovered  :  The  state  of  things 
is  not  worse  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  but  better  known.  The 
number  of  believers  and  faith  itself  have  not  suffered  from 
it.  The  position  of  the  pastor  toward  his  flock  has,  without 
doubt,  changed  ;  but  the  preacher  has  always  his  flock — his 
sheep.  Few  wish  to  remain  or  enter  within  the  pale  of  the 
Church.  We  have  to  be  missionaries.  But  if  this  new  po- 
sition is  difficult,  it  is  noble.  It  neither  destroys  nor  weakens 
authority  ;  it  purifies  it,  and  reduces  it  to  its  true  elements. 
Authority  has  become,  truly,  the  authority  of  conviction. 
The  priest  is  "a  plaintive  king."*  Is  the  sentiment  of  au- 
thority, in  these  days,  stronger,  or  more  rare  and  feeble  ?  I 
dare  not  answer.  It  appears  to  me,  however,  that  the 
preacher  does  not  assume  the  authority  he  might  have. 

The  modesty  or  humility  which  restrains  us  from  speaking 
or  acting  with  authority  is  a  poor  apology.  We  are  to  be 
neither  modest  nor  humble  at  God's  injury,  or  at  the  ex- 
pense of  truth.  To  a  man  who,  in  personal  respects,  is  our 
superior,  we  have  superiority  from  our  commission.  An  em- 
bassador,  a  plenipotentiary,  regards  not  what  he  is,  but  the 
powers  with  which  he  is  clothed  ;  and,  however  modest  he 
may  be,  with  these  he  may  become  peremptory. 

Between  him  and  us  there  is  doubtless  a  difference,  which 
leads  us  into  error  and  blame  by  the  inferences  we  draw  from 
the  analogy.  We  know  that  we  ought  not  only  to  represent, 
but  that  we  ought  to  be,  and  that  what  we  are  confirms  or 
enfeebles  our  word.  But  if,  because  we  can  never  rise  in 
character  to  the  height  of  our  mission,  we  may  abstain  from 
*  ST.  BEUVE  :  Part  Royal,  tome  i.,  p.  469. 


210  AUTHORITY    OF    THE    PREACHER. 

fulfilling  it,  no  one  would  ever  fulfill  it.  Whatever  we  are, 
we  carry  this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels,  which  never  will 
be  golden  ones  ;  hut  God  himself  has  appointed  these  vessels 
to  bear  and  to  distribute  this  treasure.  If  we  feel  humbled 
by  the  unavoidable  comparison  of  the  vessel  with  the  treas- 
ure which  it  contains,  this  humiliation  is  beneficial ;  it  does 
not  divest  us  of  all  proper  authority ;  it  casts  us  altogether 
on  that  of  God. 

There  is  a  state  of  mind,  doubtless,  which  hinders  us  from 
taking  the  statutes  of  God  in  our  mouth ;  it  is  the  state  we 
are  in  when  we  hate  correction. — Ps.  1.,  16.  But  if  the  hu- 
miliation which  we  experience  as  feeble  Christians,  and 
which  increases  in  proportion  as  we  advance  in  the  Chris- 
tian life,  should  restrain  us  from  reproving,  it  should  restrain 
us  also  from  teaching  ;  for  teaching  is  equally  above  us,  and 
all  teaching  reproves.  So  far  is  humility  from  injuring  au- 
thority, that  it  is  in  humility  that  authority  should  temper 
and  purify  itself.  It  is  useful  for  us  to  say  to  ourselves, 
"  Homines  sumus,  nee  aliud  quam  fragiles  homines,  etiamsi 
angeli  a  multis  sestimamur  et  dicimur."* 

St.  Paul  (Tit.,  ii.,  15)  would  have  us  "  reprove  with  full 
authority. "t  Reproof,  an  element  of  preaching,  is  a  princi- 
pal part  of  the  pastoral  office.  And,  moreover,  how  can  we 
refrain  from  it  ?  Have  we  a  right  to  be  merciful  if  we  have 
not  first  been  severe  ?  Will  the  hearers  accept  pardon  if 
they  have  not  felt  condemned  ?  I  do  not  speak  here  of  in- 
dividual or  private  reproof,  but  of  that  which  has  place  in 
the  pulpit.  Easier  than  the  first,  because  that  reaches  ev- 
ery one,  and  less  afflicts  individuals;  this  still  is  difficult,  on 
account  of  its  publicity,  its  solemnity,  and  the  narrowness  of 

*  "  We  are  men,  frail  men,  and  nothing  more,  though  many  re- 
gard us  as  angels  of  God." — Imitation  de  Jesus  Christ. 

t  "  He  shall  reprove  with  equity ;  he  shall  smite  the  earth  with  the 
rod  of  his  mouth,  and  with  the  breath  of  his  lips  shall  he  slay  the 
wicked." — Isaiah,  3d.,  4. 


Of    REPROOF.  211 

its  range.*  Being  collective,  it  is  more  general,  less  cutting, 
less  penetrating.  It  is,  however,  to  be  understood  that  I 
speak  of  the  censure  of  the  flock  as  a  special  individuality, 
not  simply  as  some  portion  of  humanity.  We  must  put  our 
finger  on  the  particular  blemish  in  the  flock  we  are  address- 
ing. This  special  censure  is  necessary  if  the  flock  is  a  real- 
ity :  It  makes  it  more  serious,  it  gives  it  a  sentiment  appriz- 
ing it  of  its  existence  as  a  flock,  and  of  its  relations  to  the 
pastor.  It  is  a  great  force  when  it  is  used  as  it  ought  to  be. 

Times  and  places,  unquestionably,  do  not  allow  the  same 
thing  to  all.  We  have  not  the  same  liberty  with  a  promis- 
cuous auditory  as  we  have  with  a  particular  and  chosen 
Church.  A  young  man  may  not  do  what  an  old  one  may. 
Still,  I  see  not  why  a  minister  may  not  do  whatever  a  pri- 
vate person,  who  exalts  himself  to  be  a  censor  of  morals,  may 
do,  pen  in  hand.  Only  he  must,  1.  Avoid  all  appearance  of 
personality,  and  to  this  end,  he  must  not  give  portraits  ;  his 
object  is  never  to  nourish  malignity  ;  2.  Prefer  direct  censure 
to  oblique  allusion  ;  3.  Not  forget  that  the  wrath'  of  man 
worketh  not  the  righteousness  of  God,  and  that,  in  general, 
the  fruit  of  righteousness  is  sown  in  peace.  If  it  be  truth 
that  offends,  this  is  not  our  concern  ;  hut  if  it  is  we  that  of- 
fend, then  are  we  responsible.  A  satirical  spirit  never  does 
good.  Young  preachers  should  keep  themselves  most  seri- 
ously on  their  guard,  lest,  without  thinking  of  it,  they  yield  to 
a  temptation  no  less  natural  than  subtile,  that  of  using  the 
pulpit  simply  as  an  instrument  of  sharp  censure.  Vehe- 
mence, a  holy  indignation,  may  sometimes  be  allowed,  invec- 
tive never.  If  indignation  impresses,  anger  inflames  and  re- 
bels. This  distinction  is  just ;  for  we  may  hate  evil  without 
loving  good. 

From  our  usages  as  to  preaching,  eulogium  seldom  has 
place  in  the  pulpit.  St.  Paul,  however,  gives  us  examples  of 
it,  in  addressing  certain  Churches.  We  may  not,  then,  pro- 

*  Public  reproof  can  extend  to  but  few  points,  comparatively. — TV. 


212  UNCTION. 

scribe  praise  or  approbation  :  When,  however,  we  consider 
what  the  primitive  Churches  were,  we  may  learn  that  what 
was  done  then  can  not  be  as  commonly  done  now. 

Unction. — This  word,  taken  in  its  etymology,  and  in  its 
primitive  acceptation,  denotes  no  special  quality  of  preach- 
ing, but  rather  the  grace  and  the  efficacy  which  are  connect- 
ed with  it  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  a  kind  of  seal  and  sanction 
which  consists  less  in  outward  signs  than  in  an  impression 
received  by  the  soul.  But  as,  in  ascending  to  the  cause  of 
this  effect,  we  distinguish  particularly  certain  characters,  it 
is  to  the  reunion  of  these  characters  that  we  have  given  the 
name  of  unction.  Unction  seems  to  me  to  be  the  total  char- 
acter of  the  Gospel ;  to  be  recognized,  doubtless,  in  each  of 
its  parts,  but  especially  apprehensible  in  their  assemblage. 
It  is  the  general  savor  of  Christianity  ;  it  is  a  gravity  accom- 
panied by  tenderness,  a  severity  tempered  with  sweetness,  a 
majesty  associated  with  intimacy  ;  the  true  conternperature 
of  the  Christian  dispensation,  in  which,  according  to  the 
Psalmist's  expression,  "  Mercy  and  truth  have  met  togeth- 
er, righteousness  and  peace  have  kissed  each  other." — Ps. 
Ixxxv.,  10.  It  is  so  proper  a  thing  to  Christianity  and  to 
Christian  matters,  that  we  scarcely  can  think  of  transferring 
the  term  to  other  spheres,  and  when  we  meet  with  it  ap- 
plied to  other  things  than  Christian  discourse,  or  Christian 
actions,  we  are  astonished,  and  can  only  regard  it  as  an  an- 
alogy or  a  metaphor. 

From  the  fact  that  the  whole  modern  world  has  been 
wholly  imbued  with  Christianity,  many  modern  works,  which 
are  neither  Christian  nor  even  religious,  can  not  be  other- 
wise marked  than  by  the  word  unction  ;  while  there  is  no 
work  of  antiquity  that  awakens  this  idea. 

The  idea  that  Maury*  gives  of  unction  is  no  other  than 
that  of  Christian  pathos.  The  definition  of  Blair  is  more  dis- 

*  MAOT.Y  :  Essai  sur  V Eloquence  de  la  Chaire  (chap.  Ixxxiii.),  de 
rOnction. 


UNCTION. 

tinctly  identical  with  ours.  "  Gravity  and  warmth  united," 
according  to  this  author,  "  form  that  character  of  preaching 
which  the  French  call  unction ;  the  affecting,  penetrating, 
interesting  manner,  flowing  from  a  strong  sensibility  of  heart 
in  the  preacher  to  the  importance  of  those  truths  which  he 
delivers,  and  an  earnest  desire  that  they  may  make  a  full  im- 
pression on  the  hearts  of  his  hearers."* 

M.  Dutoit  Membrini  thinks  that,  in  order  to  define  unction, 
an  intimate  and  mysterious  quality,  we  must  guard  against 
formal  definition  and  analysis.  It  is  by  the  effects  of  unction 
and  by  analogies  that  he  would  explain  it,  or,  to  speak  bet- 
ter, give  us  a  taste  of  it : 

"  Unction  is  a  mild  warmth  which  causes  itself  to  be  felt 
in  the  powers  of  the  soul.  It  produces  in  the  spiritual  sphere 
the  same  effects  as  the  sun  in  the  physical :  it  enlightens  and 
it  warms.  It  puts  light  in  the  soul ;  it  puts  warmth  in  the 
heart.  It  causes  us  to  know  and  to  love  ;  it  fills  us  with 
emotion." 

I  willingly  admit  that  it  is  a  light  which  warms  and  a 
warmth  which  enlightens ;  and  I  would  recall  on  this  sub- 
ject the  words  of  St.  John  :  "  The  anointing  which  you  have 
received  from  him  abideth  in  you,  and  this  anointing  teaches 
you  all  things." — 1  John,  ii.,  27. 

M.  Dutoit  Membrini  continues  thus:  "Its  only  source  is 
a  regenerate  and  gracious  spirit.  It  is  a  gift  which  exhausts 
itself  and  is  lost  if  we  do  not  renew  this  sacred  fire,  which 
we  must  always  keep  burning  :  that  which  feeds  it  is  the 
internal  cross,  self-denial,  prayer,  and  penitence.  Unction,  in 
religious  subjects,  is  what  in  the  poets  is  called  enthusiasm. 
Thus  unction  is  the  heart  and  the  power  of  the  soul,  nour- 
ished, kindled,  by  the  sweet  influence  of  grace.  It  is  a  soft, 
delicious,  lively,  inward,  profound,  mellifluous  feeling. 

"  Unction,  then,  is  that  mild,  soft,  nourishing,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  luminous  heat,  which  illumines  the  spirit,  pene- 
*  BLAIR  (Lect.  xxix.),  Eloquence  of  the  Pulpit. 


214  UNCTION. 

trates  the  heart,  moves  it,  transports  it,  and  which  he  who 
has  received  it  conveys  to  the  souls  and  the  hearts  which  are 
prepared  to  receive  it  also. 

"  Unction  is  felt,  is  experienced,  it  can  not  be  analyzed.  It 
makes  its  impression  silently,  and  without  the  aid  of  reflec- 
tion. It  is  conveyed  in  simplicity,  and  received  in  the  same 
way  by  the  heart  into  which  the  warmth  of  the  preacher 
passes.  Ordinarily,  it  produces  its  effect,  while  as  yet  the 
taste  of  it  is  not  developed  in  us,  without  our  being  able  to 
give  a  reason  to  ourselves  of  what  has  made  the  impression. 
We  feel,  we  experience,  we  are  touched,  we  can  hardly  say 
why. 

"  We  may  apply  to  him  who  has  received  it  these  words 
of  the  prophet  Isaiah  :  '  Behold,  I  will  make  thee  a  new  sharp 
threshing  instrument  having  teeth.' — Isaiah,  xli.,  15.  This 
man  makes  furrows  in  hearts." 

From  all  that  has  been  said,  we  must  not  conclude  that 
unction,  which  has  much  the  same  principle  as  piety,  is  ex- 
actly proportioned  to  piety.  Unction  may  be  very  unequal 
in  two  preachers,  equal  in  piety  ;  but  it  is  too  closely  related 
to  Christianity  to  be  absolutely  wanting  to  truly  Christian 
preaching.  Certain  obstacles,  some  natural,  others  of  error 
or  of  habit,  may  do  injury  to  unction,  and  obstruct,  so  to  speak, 
the  passage  of  this  soft  and  holy  oil,  which  should  always 
flow,  to  lubricate  all  the  articulations  of  thought,  to  render 
all  the  movements  of  discourse  easy  and  just,  to  penetrate, 
to  nourish  speech.  There  is  no  artificial  method  of  obtaining 
unction  ;  the  oil  flows  of  itself  from  the  olive  ;  the  most  for- 
cible pressure  will  not  produce  a  drop  from  the  earth,  or  from 
a  flint ;  but  there  are  means,  if  I  may  say  so,  by  which  we 
may  keep,  without  unction,  even  a  good  basis  of  piety  ;  or, 
of  dissembling  the  unction  which  is  in  us,  and  of  restraining 
it  from  flowing  without.  There  are  things  incompatible  with 
unction  :  Such  are  wit,*  analysis  too  strict,  a  tone  too  dicta- 

*  Nevertheless,  St.  Bernard  and  Augustin  have  wit  and  unction. 


FORM    OF    PREACHING.  215 

torial,  logic  too  formal,  irony,  the  use  of  too  secular  or  too  ab- 
stract language,  a  form  too  literary  ;  finally,  a  style  too  com- 
pact and  too  close,  for  unction  supposes  abundance,  overflow, 
fluidity,  pliableness. 

It  is  the  absence,  rather  than  the  presence  of  unction,  that 
gives  us  its  idea.  It  is  from  its  opposite  that  we  obtain  its 
distinct  notion,  not,  however,  that  it  is  but  a  negative  qual- 
ity ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the  most  positive ;  but  positive  in 
the  sense  of  an  odor,  of  a  color,  of  a  savor. 

But  let  us  not  contract  the  idea  of  unction  by  reducing  it 
to  an  effeminate  mildness,  a  wordy  abundance,  a  weeping 
pathos.  We  must  not  think  that  we  can  not  have  unction 
except  on  the  condition  of  interdicting  strictness  and  consec- 
utiveness  in  argument,  and  that  boldness  of  accent,  that  holy 
vehemence  which  certain  subjects  demand,  and  without 
which,  in  treating  them,  we  should  be  in  fault. 

Massillon  has  unction,  as  Maury  thinks,  in  a  piece  which 
contains  nothing  but  reproaches.*  As  an  example,  we  cite 
Bossuet  also,  in  the  conclusion  of  a  sermon  on  final  impeni- 
tence. 


$  7.  Form  of  Preaching. 

The  true  form  of  a  sermon  is  composed  of  the  double  im- 
pression of  the  subject  and  of  the  subjectivity  of  the  orator. 
The  form  of  a  sermon  acknowledges  only  these  two  laws, 
which,  so  far  from  opposing,  combine  with  one  another. 

As  to  general  forms  which  we  may  observe  among  preach- 
ers, as  the  psychological  and  logical  form,  that  of  continuous 
discourse,  and  that  of  parallel  developments,  or  of  discourse 
ramified,  the  analytical  and  the  synthetical  sermon,  they  are 
neither  conventional  nor  artificial ;  they  are  less  differences 

*  MAURY:  Eloquence  de  la.  Chair e  (chap.  Ixxii.),  de  VOnetion.  See 
MASSILLON,  the  conclusion  of  the  first  part  of  the  sermon,  Sur  I'Au- 
mone. 


216  FORM    OF    PREACHING. 

of  form  than  of  thought,  points  of  view,  methods  of  conceiv- 
ing the  subject  of  discourse.  They  exist  in  the  subjects  them- 
selves, and  in  the  human  mind  anterior  to  all  tradition. 

There  is  the  same  difference  between  the  conventional 
and  the  spontaneous  form  as  there  is  between  the  two  physi- 
ological systems,  one  of  which  makes  the  prominences  of  the 
skull  to  depend  on  the  internal  developments  of  the  brain,  and 
the  other  these  same  developments  to  depend  on  the  prom- 
inences of  the  skull ;  one  expressing  the  internal  by  the  ex- 
ternal, the  other,  by  the  external  compressing  and  determ- 
ining the  internal ;  one  subordinating  the  external  to  the  in- 
ternal, the  other  the  internal  to  the  external.  We  ourselves 
prefer  that  the  external  should  spring  from  the  internal,  and, 
in  respect  to  form,  we  give  "no  rule  but  this. 

But  this  rule  we  do  give  ;  and,  in  order  to  follow  it,  we 
must  resolve  upon  doing  this  with  a  positive  and  determined 
will ;  for  the  arbitrary  -forms  will  be  incessantly  besetting 
us  with  their  importunity  ;  or,  rather,  being  born  in  the  midst 
of  them,  we  shall  have  trouble  to  withdraw  ourselves  from 
their  dominion.  Now  let  it  be  observed  that  the  most  nat- 
ural forms  constantly  tend,  by  servile  and  blind  imitation,  to 
become  conventional  types  ;  they  are  a  liquid  always  on  the 
point  of  coagulation  ;  so  that  we  must  constantly,  by  warmth 
and  by  spontaneity,  keep  them  in  a  fluid  state,  or  restore 
them  to  it,  that  we  may,  as  far  as  possible,  exclude  formal- 
ism from  our  subject,  our  end,  and  our  mind.* 

I  understand  by  the  form  of  preaching  not  only  the  frame 
or  the  architecture  of  the  discourse,  but  the  tone,  the  lan- 
guage, and  even  the  topics,  for  to  introduce  new  topics  into 
it  will  somewhat  change  the  form  of  the  preaching :  these 
are  nothing  more  than  the  form  of  an  act,  which  is  more 
particular  or  more  special  only  as  it  is  a  discourse  on  divine 
things.  Thus,  in  making  a  sermon  on  the  life  of  a  godly 
man,  after  the  manner  of  Catholics  in  preaching  on  the  lives 

*  See  HERDER'S  Briefe  das  Studium  der  Theologie  betre/end,  tome  i 


UNIFORMITY. 

of  their  saints,  we  only  change  the  form,  not  the  object  of 
preaching,  since  a  life  may  as  well  serve  for  the  text  of  a 
sermon  as  a  passage  of  Scripture.  On  this  subject  a  new 
question  respecting  form  remains  to  be  considered,  but  it  is 
one  of  inferior  and  subordinate  importance. 

Now,  whatever  extension  may  be  given  to  the  idea  of  form, 
I  think  we  are  in  a  strait,  and  that  we  have  no  excuse  for 
remaining  in  it. 

There  is  a  uniformity,  or  a  too  constant  return  of  the  same 
form — of  one  discourse  after  another,  and  one  preacher  after 
another.* 

In  the  structure  of  our  sermons,  taken  separately,  there  is 
something  stiff  and  scholastic  :  While  all  things  are  in  the 
process  of  renovation,  and  when,  as  the  result  of  a  general 
revision,  we  have  effaced  whatever  separates  unduly  the 
means  from  the  end,  the  sermon  retains  a  costume  somewhat 
superannuated. 

Language  itself  has  taken  a  costume.  We  are  far  from 
not  liking  and  recommending  biblical  language.  Religion 
has  a  language,  terms  which  it  has  introduced  for  the  ex- 
pression of  new  or  renovated  things,  for  Christianity  "makes 
all  things  new,"  and  there  must,  of  course,  be  a  change  in 
words.  But  we  should  not  think  ourselves  obliged  to  ex- 
press things  in  no  other  terms  than  those  which  the  Bible 
has  consecrated.  That  we  may  better  reproduce  the  spirit 
of  the  sacred  authors,  we  must  less  imitate  than  be  inspired 
by  them.  They  used  a  liberty  which  we  refuse  them.  We 
need  not  debar  ourselves  from  spheres  which  they  appear  not 
to  have  permitted  themselves  to  occupy,  merely  because  they 
had  no  occasion  to  enter  them.  According  to  the  old  scru- 
pulosity of  the  pulpit  in  the  use  of  language,  Paul  was  not 
justifiable  in  citing  Aratus  and  Epimenides.  Most  certainly 

*  On  individuality  in  the  form  of  the  sermon,  which  is  very  rare, 
see  THEREMIN,  Die  Bercdsamkeit  tine  Twgend,  deuxteme  edition.  Ber- 
lin, 1837,  p.  xxuf,  de  1'Introduction. 

K 


218  DELIVERY. 

we  ought  not  to  make  the  temple  a  rendezvous  for  all  those 
worldly  recollections  which  our  hearers  should  leave  at  the 
door  ;  but  it  may  be  very  useful  to  call  certain  things  by  the 
names  which  are  given  to  them  in  common  parlance.* 

The  rule  is  a  good  one  of  preaching  from  a  text ;  I  like  it, 
provided  place  be  left  for  exceptions.  We  ought  to  be  al- 
lowed to  preach  without  a  text,  or  from  two  texts  united. 

So  far  as  respect  for  our  ministry  and  our  flock  will  per- 
mit, we  must  avail  ourselves  of  all  our  advantages.  "  All 
things  are  ours." — 1  Cor.,  iii.,  21.  But  let  us  beware  of  the 
spirit  of  innovation,  which  changes  for  the  pleasure  of  chang- 
ing, or  for  the  sake  of  appearing  independent. 

The  Iwmily,  a  species  of  preaching  deserving  great  atten- 
tion, has  this  among  other  advantages,  that  it  almost  neces- 
sarily breaks  certain  traditional  forms  of  the  sermon — those 
at  least  which  respect  the  structure  of  the  discourse. 

As  to  delivery,  which  is  the  eloquence  of  the  body,  the 
most  important  rules  are  negative  ones.f  Let  us'  remember 
how  much  the  multitude  is  influenced  by  what  is  external, 
and  endeavor,  if  possible,  not  to  preacli,  but  speak.  Bad 
habits,  bad  traditions,  perpetuate  themselves  ;  the  good  be- 
comes bad  by  an  unintelligent  imitation.  Let  us  avoid  a 
theatrical,  very  familiar,  excessively  free  manner. 

§  8.  Festival  and  occasional  Sermons. 

We  have  said  that  the  fundamental  ideas  of  Christianity, 
and  the  chief  conclusions  from  them,  should  reappear,  and 
be  felt  in  every  sermon  :  How  much  more  should  they  be 
amplified  in  the  entire  course  of  preaching.  But  it  does  not 
hence  follow  that  sermons  on  festivals,  and  the  Sundays  pre- 
ceding them  (weeks  of  Advent  and  Lent),  should  not  have  a 
distinct  character  of  their  own.  These  observances  are  rep- 

*  See  Reflections  of  BURK  on  the  Simplicitas  Catechetica. 
t  For  the  details,  see  /' '  Homilelique. 


*  V 


OCCASIONAL   SERMONS.  219 

utable  and  useful,  and,  if  the  evangelic  year  is  of  the  same 
tenor,  still  it  may  have  more  emphatic  moments.  These 
seasons  are  good  and  acceptable  to  all,  and  the  sad  but  too 
evident  fact  is  to  be  taken  into  consideration,  that  these  with 
us  are  the  only  occasions  which  bring  certain  members  of  the 
flock  into  the  Church.  We  may  be  serious  and  solemn  on 
every  subject,  even  of  Christian  morality,  as  was  M.  Manuel, 
who  preached  on  a  communion  day  on  the  fifth  command- 
ment ;  but,  in  general,  the  festival  itself  must  be  our  theme. 

I  would  not  distinguish  a  fast-day  only  by  more  vivid  and 
more  accumulated  censures,  but  would  be  popular  and  natu- 
ral in  my  manner ;  the  people  now,  as  a  people,  come  to  hum- 
ble themselves  before  God. 

Sermons,  preparatory  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  present  a  deli- 
cate point.  There  should  be  much  of  tact  in  them,  and  of 
sound  and  precise  instruction  on  the  nature  and  the  duty  of 
communion. 

We  are  scarcely  required  to  preach  on  particular  circum- 
stances, but  circumstances,  by  judicious  use,  may  become  ex- 
cellent texts  for  our  sermons.  In  every  case  we  have  a  dou- 
ble task,  to  make  the  eternal  actual,  and  the  actual,  so  to 
speak,  eternal.  If  it  is  unfortunate  to  regard  a  circumstance 
only  as  a  theme  for  oratorical  display,  it  will  be  unhappy  also 
not  to  take  advantage  of  it  largely  and  freely,  for  the  purpose 
of  edification.  The  best  of  all  guides,  on  these  occasions, 
is  the  simplicity  of  a  Christian  heart,  and  the  true  point  of 
view  is  secured  by  prayer.  Every  one  has  not  the  secret  of 
making  exquisite  allusions  and  delicate  turns  ;  but  every  one 
finds  in  the  seriousness  of  the  Gospel  a  true  measure,  true 
concord,  and  just  caution. 

$  9.  Several  Questions  relative  to  Preaching. 

Length  of  the  Sermon. — Length  and  brevity  are  relative 
qualities.     A  sermon  which  bears  one  along  seems  shorter, 


220      LENGTH  AND  REPETITION  OF  SERMONS. 

while  a  sermon  in  which  the  development  of  the  idea  does 
not  advance  always  appears  long.  We  must  not,  then,  dwell 
much  on  details,  but  give  the  discourse  a  progressive  move- 
ment.* 

But  the  question  may  be  taken  absolutely. 
"  Believe  me,  I  speak  from  experience,  and  long  experience : 
The  more  you  say,  the  less  will  be  retained.  The  less  you 
say,  the  more  the  hearers  will  be  profited.  By  overcharging 
their  memory  you  destroy  it,  as  we  put  out  lamps  by  overfill- 
ing them  with  oil,  and  drown  plants  by  immoderately  water- 
ing them.  When  a  discourse  is  too  long,  the  end  obliterates 
the  middle  and  the  beginning.  Ordinary  preachers  are  ac- 
ceptable if  they  be  short,  and  excellent  ones  weary  us  when 
they  are  too  long."t 

We  must  not,  in  a  word,  expect  too  much  from  the  audi- 
tory. In  a  country  congregation,  especially,  close  attention 
can  not  be  sustained  for  a  long  time  ;  but  even  to  them  a  ser- 
mon too  short  is  an  ofTense.  Men  have  an  impression  that 
matters  of  great  importance  ought  not  to  be  merely  glanced 
upon. 

^Repetition  of  Sermons  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  habit  of  repro- 
ducing, after  a  certain  time,  sermons  which  have  been  preach- 
ed. This  is  the  point  of  view  in  which  this  matter  should 
be  placed  :  In  two  ways  a  sermon  may  be  true — when  it  ex- 
presses the  truth,  and  when  it  expresses  the  preacher  him- 
self. A  preacher  may  have  nothing  to  change  or  retrench  in 
a  sermon ;  he  may  admit  its  power,  and  yet  not  be  able  to 
put  himself  into  his  sermon  a  second  time,  or  his  sermon 
into  himself.  I  would  by  no  means  forbid  the  repetition  of  a 
good  sermon,  which  the  preacher  may  perhaps  modify,  so  as 
to  accommodate  it,  in  spirit,  to  his  own  actual  state,  or  the 

*  Compare  here  the  sermon  of  BOURDALOUK  on  La  Passion,  with  that 
of  MASSILLON  on  Consummatum  est. 

t  Guide  de  ceux  qui  annoneent  la  Parole  de  Dieu,  contenant  la  Doctrine 
de  Saint  Francois  de  Sales,  etc.  Lyon,  1829,  p.  8. 


» • 

BEFORE    PREACHING.  221 

actual  wants  of  the  flock.  We  must  guard  against  abuse. 
We  are  not  slow  to  give  ourselves  great  license  here,  and  we 
may  proceed  to  a  ridiculous  and  scandalous  excess. 

May  a  Pastor  have  one  to  preach  for  him  ? — The  interest 
of  the  flock  may  sometimes  justify  the  pastor  in  obtaining  an 
aid  in  preaching.  Why  refuse  to  the  flock  good  nourishment 
which  may  be  offered  it,  or  the  advantage  of  hearing  the 
same  truths  from  two  different  men,  and  under  two  different 
forms  ?  Why  refuse  one's  self  a  repose  which  is,  perhaps, 
necessary,  and  the  advantage  of  hearing  the  word,  of  being 
preached  to  ?  But,  on  the  one  hand,  the  responsibility  we 
are  under  forbids  our  having  men  to  preach  for  us  in  whom 
we  have  not  confidence  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  course  and 
continuity  of  instruction  may  be  impaired  by  too  frequent  in- 
terruptions ;  and,  finally,  facility  in  yielding  or  offering  our 
pulpit  would  not  fail  to  injure  our  standing  in  our  parish. 
Harms  replies  to  those  who  say,  But  when  we  are  sick  ? 
"  Do  not  be  sick."*  I  would  rather  say,  do  not  imagine 
yourselves  to  be  sick. 

What  should  be  done  before  Preaching. — Before  preach- 
ing we  ought  to  have  an  exercise  of  mortification,  remember- 
ing, as  St.  Cyran  says,  that  we  should  be  especially  afraid 
of  offending  God  in  the  pulpit. t  We  must  possess  ourselves 
of  the  feeling  of  our  unworthiness  and  our  weakness ;  like 
the  publican,  we  should  smite  upon  our  breast.  If  it  be  rob- 
bery to  undertake  a  mission  to  which  we  are  not  called,  it  is 
so  likewise  to  be  occupied  in  it  with  unsuitable  feelings.  A 
carnal  confidence,  a  desire  to  make  a  show,  is  of  fatal  influ- 
ence on  preaching.  We  must  pray,  not  for  ourselves  alone, 
or  with  anxious  feeling  on  our  own  account,  but  especially 
for  the  flock.  Prayer  for  ourselves  is  good  and  necessary,  but 
we  must  not  in  this  spend  too  much  time.  If  we  pray  too 
little  for  others,  we  shall  not  pray  well  for  ourselves.  We 

*  Pastoraltheologie,  torn,  i.,  p.  41. 

t  ST.  CYKAN  (Lettre  xxxi.),  d  M.  Le  Rebours. 


222  AFTER    PREACHING. 

should  travail  in  birth  for  souls,  till  Christ  be  formed  within 
them. 

Wliat  should  be  done  after  the  Sermon. — Not  less  useful 
is  an  appropriate  exercise  after  preaching  than  the  prepara- 
tion which  goes  before  it.  This  exercise  includes  : 

An  act  of  gratitude  toward  God  for  giving  us  the  honor  of 
preaching  the  word  of  life,  for  our  having  strength  for  it,  and 
for  our  having  been  .kept  from  error  and  contempt. 

An  act  of  humiliation  and  of  mortification.  We  ought  to 
confess  our  unworthiness  of  so  great  a  function  as  that  which 
we  have  been  performing,  and  to  humble  ourselves  on  ac- 
count of  it. 

Self-examination  and  contrition,  in  view  of  our  sins  of  the 
tongue  and  the  secret  sins  of  our  heart  in  the  pulpit. 

Prayer.  After  having  planted  and  watered,  we  should 
ask  God  to  give  the  increase. 

All  these  may  be  abiding  in  the  state  of  the  heart  ;  but  it 
is  useful  to  turn  feelings  into  acts,  to  give  these  things  a  form, 
an  utterance.* 

The  Preacher  should  know  ivhat  is  thought  of  his 
Preaching. — We  can  not,  in  this  case,  apply  in  every  sense 
the  words  of  St.  Paul  :  "It  is  a  small  thing  for  me  to  be 
judged  of  you,  or  of  man's  judgment." — 1  Cor.,  iv.,  3. 

Theremin  thinks  that  the  only  absolute  test  of  good  preach- 
ing is  consciousness  of  having  sought  the  glory  of  God.f  It 
is  not  the  less  important,  on  this  account,  to  be  admonished 
of  any  errors  which  may  need  to  be  corrected. 

There  are  indirect  or  silent  admonitions  which,  if  we  are 

*  See,  on  this  subject,  the  Guide  de  ceux  qui  annoncent  la  Parole  de 
Dieu,  p.  217. 

t  He  may  be  satisfied  if  he  has  done  all  he  can  to  please  God,  and 
none  but  him.  This  is  not  only  a  good  test  of  the  worth  of  a  sermon, 
but  the  only  one  which  we  can  depend  upon,  and  we  can  recognize 
no  other.  In  place  of  this,  we  can  not  accept  even  the  blessing  which 
may  be  connected  with  a  sermon. — THEREMIN  :  Die  Beredsamkeit  eine 
Tugend. 


IMMEDIATE    EFFECT.  223 

willing,  we  shall  not  fail  to  receive.  There  are  praises  which 
are  criticisms,  as  there  also  is  a  criticism  which  praises  and 
a  silence  which  speaks.  The  air  of  our  flock,  their  silent  re- 
flectiveness, shows  us  what  is  passing  within  them,  better 
than  visible  tokens  of  emotion.  There  are  many  things,  how- 
ever, we  never  can  know,  or  never  know  well,  because  too 
much  frankness  is  required  to  give  us  the  knowledge  of  them, 
or  too  much  judgment  to  receive  the  idea  of  them.  We 
live,  for  the  most  part,  in  so  much  seclusion,  that  we  shall 
be  without  admonition  if  we  do  not  desire  it. 

Faites  choix  d'un  censeur  solide  et  salutaire, 
Que  la  raison  conduise  et  le  savoir  eclaire, 
Et  dont  le  crayon  sur  aille  d'abord  chercher 
L'endroit  que  1'on  sent  faible  et  qu'on  veut  se  cacher,* 
Aimez  qu'on  vous  conseille,  et  non  pas  qu'on  vous  loue.t 

We  may  find  such  a  monitor  not  only  in  a  brother  in  the 
ministry,  but  in  the  humblest  member  of  our  flock.  A  sim- 
ple parishioner,  a  poor  woman,  a  child  even,  may  be  such  a 
one.  We  should,  without  doubt,  use  caution  in  this  matter, 
and  not  consult  every  one  who  may  come  in  our  way  ;  but, 
with  the  view  of  correcting  our  faults,  we  must  seek  to  know 
the  truth. 

On  the  immediate  Effect,  or  immediate  Impression  of 
the  Sermon. — As  to  this,  whether  good  or  evil,  we  are  often 
disappointed.  Many  preachers  are  astonished  to  see  the  small 
effect  of  discourses  from  which  they  expected  great  success ; 
and  vice  versa.  Many  discourses,  longly  drawn  out  with 
anguish  of  soul,  composed  with  poverty  of  feeling,  have  been 
richly  blest,  have  produced  more  effect  than  others  prepared 
with  alertness  and  delight.  When  alertness,  memory,  fervor 
itself,  have  been  wanting,  the  ray  which,  in  passing  through 
the  lens,  has  left  it  cold,  has  been  a  burning  one  beyond  it.$ 

*  BOILEAU  :  IS  Art  Poelique,  chant  iv.  t  Ibid.,  chant  i. 

$  See,  on  this  subject,  an  anecdote  related  by  BURK,  Pastoraltheo- 
logie  in  Beispielen,  tome  i.,  p.  241. 


224  FRUITS    OP    PREACHING. 

We  are  very  often  only  the  occasion  of  the  Divine  blessing.* 
These  trials  are  useful,  and  even  necessary ;  they  keep  us 
from  appropriating  our  success  to  ourselves,  and  from  saying 
to  ourselves,  I  myself  have  done  this.  They  efface  the  /, 
always  odious,  and  especially  in  this  case.  But  we  shall  fall 
into  a  great  error  if  we  draw  from  these  experiences  the 
conclusion  that  it  is  indifferent  whether  we  do  good  or  evil. 
They  should  only  teach  us  that  we  should  be  neither  discour- 
aged nor  inflated. 

On  the  Fruits  of  Preaching. — The  words  "Ye  shall 
know  them  by  their  fruits"  (Matt.,  vii.,  20),  are  not,  without 
qualification,  applicable  to  preachers.  The  fruits,  so  far,  at 
least,  as  we  can  see,  are  not  always  exactly  proportional  to 
zeal  and  devotedness. 

It  is  important  to  remember  that  the  grace  of  God  is  sov- 
ereign, lest  we  be  not  tempted  to  regard  ourselves  as  the  ef- 
ficient agent  of  our  success.  While  we  see  one  who  has 
sown  less  reaping  more,  apparently,  it  is  useful  to  accustom 
ourselves  to  think  that  God,  in  this,  hath  done  as  he  pleased. 

It  is  also  important  that  we  do  not  prescribe  conditions  to 
God,  by  not  being  willing  to  sow,  unless  we  have  a  security 
that  we  shall  reap.  Even  when  we  are  not  permitted  to 
reap,  we  must  be  content,  and  give  thanks  that  we  have 
sown.  The  spirit  of  the  ministry,  in  this  respect  and  in 
many  others,  is  admirably  epitomized  in  John,  iv.,  36,  37. 
"  He  that  reapeth  receiveth  wages,  and  gathereth  fruit  unto 
eternal  life  ;  that  both  he  that  soweth  and  he  that  reapeth 
may  rejoice  together.  And  herein  is  that  saying  true,  One 
soweth,  and  another  reapeth."  For  a  stronger  reason  should 
we  patiently  wait :  It  is  important  that  our  faith  and  our 
spirit  of  prayer  should  be  exercised  by  waiting.  Unfailing 
success,  a  harvest  which  should  always  come  according  to 
our  calculation,  would  be  fatal  to  us.  "  Be  not  discouraged 
by  the  unprofitableness  of  your  pains  and  instructions  among 
*  BURK  :  Pastoraltheologie,  tome  i.,  p.  276. 


DIVERSITY    OF    FRUITS.  225 

your  people  :  God  does  not  always  reward  the  zeal  of  his 
ministers  by  immediate  and  visible  success.  Be  always 
casting  in,  cultivating,  watering  the  holy  seed  ;  he  who  gives 
the  increase  will  not  fail  to  make  it  productive  in  his  own 
time.  We  would  be  recompensed,  according  to  our  labors, 
by  a  sudden  and  visible  fruit ;  but  God  does  not  permit  this, 
lest  we  should  attribute  to  ourselves  and  to  our  feeble  powers 
a  success  which  can  come  only  from  the  work  of  grace."* 

Besides,  we  should  have  no  misunderstanding  in  respect  to 
fruits.  There  may  be  more  when  to  us  there  appears  to  be 
less.  We  can  not  estimate  them 'when  they  arc  spread  over 
the  field,  but  only  when  they  are  stowed  in  the  granary. 
When  we  see  around  us  the  evidences  of  a  religious  revival, 
the  Bible  abundantly  distributed,  the  word  of  God  zealously 
preached,  we  may  say,  Here  the  wind  of  the  Lord  has  passed. 
But  this  is  wheat  which  has  but  sprung  up ;  the  harvest  is 
not  yet :  The  harvest  consists  in  sanctification,  charity,  the 
whole  course  of  a  lowly  and  pure  life. 

A  quite  superficial  impression  may  produce  much  noise 
and  agitation.  A  profound  impression  may  express  itself 
more  by  a  whisper.  We  must  not  rely  too  much  on  results 
of  the  first  kind,  nor  distrust  too  much  the  second.  Some- 
times, after  rising  in  a  mist,  the  sun  pierces  the  clouds,  and 
the  day  is  warm  and  fine  ;  at  other  times  the  morning  is 
bright,  and  the  day  cold  and  damp. 

Without  forgetting  that  "few  are  chosen,"  or  that  "the 
gate  is  strait,  and  few  enter  in  thereat,"  we  must  make  it  our 
aim  to  gain  many  souls,  and  not  once  for  all  be  content  with 
a  small  number  of  adepts.  We  must  reckon  among  the 
fruits  of  good  and  faithful  preaching,  not  only  a  decided  and 
remarkable  awakening  of  a  small  number  of  souls,  but  a  true 
reformation  of  a  large  number.  In  the  inventory  we  must 
include  every  thing,  and  overvalue  nothing.  He  who  has 

*  MASSILLON  (Neuvieme  Discours  Synodal) :  De  V Avarice  des  Pre- 
tres. 

K  2 


228  SUCCESS    OF    OPINION. 

established  order  in  his  family,  in  his  habits,  is  already  pre- 
pared to  enjoy  a  higher  truth.  And  why  should  not  a  min- 
ister be  a  benefactor  of  his  country,  and  endeavor  to  promote 
order  and  good  neighborhood,  and  give  popularity  to  virtue 
and  moral  honesty  ? 

On  the  Success  of  Opinion,  or  the  Popularity  of  Preach- 
ing.— We  may  honor  a  mere  flower  with  the  name  of  fruit, 
and  take  success  of  opinion,  the  prevalence  of  our  views,  for 
real  success.  Now  not  only  is  there  a  great  difference  be- 
tween these,  but  the  first,  which  is  not  necessarily  the  means 
of  the  last,  is  often  an  insurmountable  obstacle  in  its  way. 

It  is  dangerous  to  be  popular  ;*  because  gratified  self-love, 
which  is  so  dear  to  iis,  terminates  by  taking  the  means  for 
the  end,  and  induces  us  to  make  concessions,  which  gradual- 
ly lead  us  away  from  the  truth.  Here  we  begin  to  have 
two  masters ;  and  "  no  man  can  serve  two  masters ;  for  ei- 
ther he  will  hate  the  one  and  love  the  other,  or  else  he  will 
hold  to  the  one  and  despise  the  other." — Matt.,  vi.,  24. 

We  may  deceive  ourselves  as  to  our  own  dispositions  and 
motives.  We  may  easily  mistake  highly-excited  feeling  for 
a  reduplication  of  our  zeal.f  We  may  also  easily  mistake 
tenderness  for  unction,  and  take  for  charity  the  glow  of  be- 
nevolence which  we  give  in  exchange  for  what  we  receive. 
We  may  know  the  just  value  of  this  kind  of  animation  and 
excitement  by  making  an  experiment  on  the  individual  mem- 
bers of  our  flock  :  we  shall  very  probably  find  that  we  shall 
not  have  it  now.  If  our  interest  does  not  abate — if  we  are 
as  earnest  now  as  we  were  in  the  pulpit,  we  may  have  con- 
fidence in  our  zeal ;  but  if  we  do  not  now  feel  ourselves  at 
home,  we  may  know  that  we  have  been  sustained  partly  by 
self-love. 

It  is  useful  to  a  popular  preacher  to  see  himself  for  a  while 
deserted,  or  restored  ultimately  to  his  true  place  :  He  may 
then  learn  what  he  is,  and,  if  he  abide  this  crisis,  he  will 

*  See  Omicron,  Letters  of  J.  NEWTON.  t  See  Omicron. 


POPULARITY UNPOPULARITY.          227 

have  true  unction.  Either  he  will  be  no  more  than  a  mere 
man  of  office,  or  his  motives  will  be  purified. 

Between  popularity  and  permanent  unpopularity  there  is 
a  point  below  which  it  is  not  desirable  to  sink,  but  above 
which  it  is  not  necessary  to  rise.  And  perhaps  it  will  be 
found  that,  with  some  exceptions,  true  success  has  been 
granted  to  those  who,  as  regards  talent,  have  received  nei- 
ther poverty  nor  riches,  but  whom  God  has  nourished  with 
food  convenient  for  them. 

Of  unpopularity  there  are  two  kinds  :  That  of  indifference, 
or  personal  dislike,  no  one  covets  ;  not  so  as  to  the  other  kind, 
which  respects  doctrine  as  its  cause  :  This,  from  its  nature, 
may  be  made  an  object  of  ambition,  and  it  is-,  I  think,  dan- 
gerous. I  should  not  so  regard  it  if  it  were  inseparable  from 
faithfulness  ;  for  what  is  necessary  can  not  be  dangerous  ; 
or,  if  it  be,  it  is  not,  in  this  case,  to  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion. But  let  us  first  be  sure  that  unpopularity  for  doctrines' 
sake  is  the  necessary  consequence  of  faithfulness.  Some  so 
think,  and,  accordingly,  they  regard  unpopularity  from  this 
cause  as  a  matter  of  obligation.  If  it  be  unavoidable,  we 
must  let  it  come,  not  cause  it  to  come  ;  and  in  no  case  should 
we  add  to  it  by  our  manner  of  presenting  the  truth.  As  far 
as  strict  integrity  will  permit,  we  should,  I  think,  do  every 
thing  to  avoid  becoming  unpopular,  whether  in  the  one  way 
or  the  other,  because  when  once  the  boundary  between  pop- 
ular favor  and  the  want  of  it  is  passed,  self-seeking  is  as 
probable  in  the  second  case  as  in  the  first.  The  mere  im- 
pression, or  at  least  the  idea  too  constantly  present,  that  we 
shall  be  unpopular,  will  prescribe  the  measure  of  our  fidelity, 
place  us  in  a  false  point  of  view,  give  acerbity  to  our  dis- 
course, put  us  in  an  attitude  of  hostility,*  &c. 

Thus  as  to  the  question  in  the  abstract  :  If  we  consult 
facts  in  regard  to  it,  I  think  many  examples  prove  that  faith- 
ful and  conscientious  preaching  may  procure  to  the  preacher 
*  See  Omicrcm. 


228  UNPOPULARITY. 

the  high  esteem  and  even  affection  of  the  people.*  But,  aft- 
er saying  this,  I  add,  without  hesitation,  that  the  Gospel 
would  not  be  the  Gospel  if  it  should  flow  into  the  minds  of 
men  as  easily  and  as  pleasantly  as  the  doctrines  of  natural 
religion  or  of  moral  philosophy ;  for,  until  the  spirit  of  God 
opens  the  heart  to  the  sublime  truths  of  the  Gospel,  they  are 
as  bitter  to  the  taste  as  they  are  afterward  sweet  to  the  in- 
ner man.  In  evangelical  preaching  there  is  always  a  germ 
of  unpopularity,  an  element  of  acerbity,  which  may  reveal 
itself  even  at  periods  when  orthodoxy  becomes  popular  and 
fashionable  :  The  thing  may  happen.  There  are  periods, 
also,  when  a  general  repugnance  to  the  Gospel  and  a  myste- 
rious attraction  to  it  vividly  discover  themselves  together, 
and  when  every  one  is  already  excited  in  favor  of  it  or  exas- 
perated against  it.  But,  in  general,  the  preacher's  wisdom 
in  this  matter  adjusts  itself  to  this  thought  of  the  apostle  : 
"  It  is  a  light  thing  with  me  to  be  judged  of  man's  judg- 
ment" (1  Cor.,  iv.,  3);  and  this  other  no  less  apostolical 
thought :  "  The  fruit  of  righteousness  is  sown  in  peace." — 
James,  iii.,  18.  "  If  it  be  possible,  as  much  as  lieth  in  you, 
live  peaceably  with  all  men."t — Rom.,  xii.,  18. 

*  See  Omicron. 

t  CHRYSOSTOM  has  represented  with  much  force  the  danger  of 
permitting  ourselves  to  be  preoccupied  by  the  desire  of  favor  or  the 
fear  of  unpopularity. — De  Sacerdotio,  lib.  iii.,  c.  9,  et  lib.  v.,  c.  2,  4,  6, 
et  8. 


CATECHISING.  229 


CHAPTER  II. 

CATECHISING. 

§  1 .  Its  Importance  and  its  Object. 

AMONG  our  functions,  this  occupies  the  first  rank.  Relig- 
ious instruction,  well  attended  on,  renews  continually  the 
foundation  of  the  Church,  and  is  the  most  real  and  valuable 
part  of  that  tradition  by  which  Christianity,  not  only  as  a 
doctrine,  but  also  as  a  life,  perpetuates  itself  from  age  to 
age.  In  this  tradition,  the  importance  of  the  sermon,  prop- 
erly so  called,  is  the  greater  in  proportion  as  it  is  addressed 
to  hearers  who  have  been  prepared  by  religious  instruction. 

Catechising  is  useful  to  those  who  are  its  immediate  ob- 
jects ;  it  is  useful  to  the  parish,  which  has  need  to  be,  and, 
with  its  children,  is  catechised  ;  it  is  useful  to  the  pastor 
himself,  who,  by  the  duty  of  adapting  religion  to  the  appre- 
hension of  children,  is  incessantly  carried  back  to  simplicity 
and  the  true  names  of  things.  On  all  these  accounts,  it  de- 
serves our  earnest  attention,  which  it  also  demands  by  its 
difficulty,  not  the  same  for  all  pastors,  but  always  great. 
For  it  is  a  work  which,  besides  all  the  requisites  to  good 
preaching,  includes  special  requisites  of  its  own.  He  who 
catechises  well  will  not  preach  badly  ;  though  he  who 
preaches  excellently  may  be  a  bad  catechist. 

It  is  true  that  catechising  has  repulsions  which  do  not  per- 
tain to  preaching  ;  but  it  has  attractions,  too,  which  preach- 
ing has  not. 

It  is  also  true  that  it  encounters  a  formidable  obstacle  in 
the  small  agreement,  or  rather  in  the  contrast  between  the 
teaching  which  the  children  receive  from  the  minister,  and 
that  which  they  receive  for  the  greater  part  of  the  time  from 


230  IMPORTANCE    AND    OBJECT. 

the  world  and  their  own  domestic  relatives.  But  as  far  as 
this  obstacle  is  not  absolutely  insurmountable,  it  presents  it- 
self to  us  less  as  an  obstacle  than  as  a  motive  to  give  the 
greater  care  to  this  part  of  the  pastoral  office,  and  as  itself  a 
reason  for  this  institution. 

The  object  of  religious  instruction  is  not  simply  to  teach 
children  their  religion  (as  if  they  already  possessed  it,  and  it 
was  theirs  before  they  had  learned  it),  but  to  lay  in  them 
the  foundation  of  a  life.* 

It  is  undoubtedly  an  instruction,  taking  this  word  in  its 
ordinary  sense,  and  below  its  etymological  meaning ;  but  it 
is  more  properly  an  initiation  into  the  sacred  mystery  of  the 
Christian  life.  "  My  little  children,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  of  whom 
I  travail  in  birth  again,  until  Christ  be  formed  in  you."  — 
Gal.,  iv.,  19. 

We  must  not  give  the  preference  to  the  more  intelligent 
children,  to  those  who  answer  best,  but  in  more  limited  minds 
we  shall  very  often  recognize  a  superiority  of  heart.  Answers 
from  the  heart,  when  they  are  right,  are  of  more  value  than 
the  most  remarkable  ones  from  the  understanding.  A  dull, 
vexatious  child  is  perhaps  more  serious  than  a  bright  one 
whom  we  are  fond  of  caressing. 

§  2.   General  characteristics  of  Catechising — Source  and 
Method  of  religious  Teaching. 

Instruction,  as  instruction,  should  be  as  solid  and  thorough 
as  possible  ;  still,  we  should  aim  at  spontaneity  and  life ;  and 
therefore  there  should  be  in  this  study  nothing  of  haste  or  of 
excessive  labor  (that  which  too  much  occupies  the  mind  oft- 
en leaves  the  heart  indolent) ;  nothing  which  should  give  it 
too  much  resemblance  to  an  ordinary  study  ;  nothing  which 
may  leave  behind  it  a  disagreeable  recollection.  Let  the 
preacher  do  what  he  can  to  make  the  child  remember, 

*  See,  for  the  development  of  this  idea,  the  Catechetical  Course. 


BIBLE    AND    CATECHISM.  231 

through  life,  the  instructions  he  gives  him.  Let  the  hours  of 
teaching  be  hours  of  edification  ;  let  the  child  have  the  feel- 
ing that  the  exercise  is  one  in  which  he  is  to  be  active  ;*  let 
religious  teaching  have  the  character  of  worship  :f  Action 
and  worship,  these  two  characteristics,  which  ought  to  be 
interfused  into  one  another,  are  too  often  lost  sight  of. 

Where  ought  a  child  to  find  his  religion  ?  All  that  he  can 
find  himself,  he  must  find,  but  that  is  little  ;  all  the  rest  is 
in  the  Bible.  It  is  the  Bible  that  must  teach  him.J  Cate- 
chising presupposes  the  Bible,  which  it  does  but  digest  and 
systematize ;  and  we  say  in  passing,  that  its  use  after  the 
Bible  has  not  the  same  inconveniences  with  its  use  before  it. 
It  would  be  a  sad  error  to  retrench  it,  but  not  so  great  a  one 
as  to  retrench  the  Bible. 

It  is  by  their  mutually  interlacing  one  another  that  the 
ideas  of  the  Bible  live,  as  do  the  fibres  of  a  living  body  :  To 
separate  them  is  to  destroy  their  life.  Facts  may  be  distinct, 
and  the  mind  may  distinguish  them  ;  but  in  reality,  in  life, 
nothing  is  isolated  ;  and  all  those  individualizations,  all  those 
personifications,  all  those  entities  which  appear  in  Catechisms, 
are  fictions  ;  all  the  truths  here  are  but  different  forms  or  dif- 
ferent applications  of  the  same  truth.  But  there  are  difficul- 
ties connected  with  the  use  of  the  Bible  ;  we  must  not  pur- 
sue this  path  without  reflection  ;  a  method  is  to  be  arranged. 
It  is  important  to  understand  how  we  should  read,  what  we 
should  read,  where  begin,  and  then  adjust  every  thing  care- 
fully to  the  measure  of  time  we  have  at  command. 

*  This  feeling  is  promoted  by  interrogations  which  elicit  the  ex- 
position. 

t  See,  on  this  subject,  a  passage  from  Madame  NECKER,  in  her  Edu- 
cation Progressive.  "  Religion  is  never  prescribed  in  its  most  sacred 
aspect  to  the  young,  if  even  the  teaching  of  it  is  not  worship,"  etc 
Livre  vi.,  chap.  ii.  (this  and  the  following  paragraphs). 

J  See  in  the  Semeur,  tome  ix.,  numero  27  (1  Juillet,  1840),  an  ar- 
ticle on  M.  MORELL'S  Sacred  History ;  and  in  the  Appendix,  note  K, 
the  portion  of  this  article  relating  to  tha  use  of  the  Catechism. — Edit. 


232  ADVICE    TO    THE    CATECH1ST. 

$  3.  Advice  to  the  Catechist. 

It  would  be  well  for  the  pastor  to  begin  with  the  youn- 
gest children,  and,  if  he  is  to  have  them  under  his  direction 
for  many  successive  years,  to  proceed  leisurely  with  their  in- 
struction :  If  he  is  to  have  them  for  a  short  time,  he  will,  I 
apprehend,  be  obliged  to  use  a  Catechism.  But  whether  he 
will  be  under  this  necessity  (and  especially  in  the  case  now 
supposed),  or  whether  the  Catechism  is  to  come  after  the  Bi- 
ble, the  use  of  this. manual  will  require  special  care.  It  is 
difficult  to  make  a  Catechism,  and  there  are  but  few  good 
ones.  All  things  else  being  equal,  I  should  prefer  the  most 
elementary — one  which,  conceived  after  a  Christian  plan,  and 
reducing  all  things  to  a  small  number  of  principles,  presents 
only  the  fundamental  ideas  on  each  subject,  but  expressed 
with  vigor  and  feeling.  Of  all  the  Catechisms  with  which  I 
am  acquainted,  I  still  give  my  preference  to  that  of  Luther. 
By  adding  to  it  a  collection  of  passages, we  shall  have  all  we 
need.* 

Whatever  mode  of  catechising  may  be  adopted,  whether  the 
Bible  or  some  manual  be  its  text,  if  it  be  public,  it  should  be 
adapted  to  the  class  for  which  it  is  specially  intended,  I  mean 
for  children.  It  is  very  desirable  that  adults  should  take  in- 
terest in  the  exercise,  and  be  attendants  on  it,  but  we  should 
not  think  ourselves  obliged  to  change  its  character  on  their 
account.  It  would  be  unfaithfulness  in  respect  to  the  chil- 
dren, and  would  be  rather  a  damage  than  a  benefit  to  the 
adults.  Religion  is  never  more  penetrating,  nor  is  instruc- 
tion really  more  profound,  than  when  Christianity  is  put  in 
an  infantile  point  of  view.  To  present  it  thus,  is  to  make  it 
attractive  to  adults ;  the  best  sermon  is  not  so  attractive  as  a 
catechetic  exercise,  well  managed. 

Whether  in  public  or  private,  we  must  prepare  ourselves 
well  for  it,  and  not  say  to  ourselves,  I  have  only  to  speak  to 
*  Make  use  of  good  religious  tracts. — Real,  Fabre. 


ADVICE    TO    THE    CATECHI8T.  233 

children  ;  for  in  this,  as  in  every  thing,  maxima  debeturpu- 
ero  reverential  It  is  certainly  no  easy  matter  to  speak  well 
to  children  :  the  talent  to  do  this  belongs  not  to  every  one. 
Our  manner  with  children  should  be  such  as  to  give  exercise 
to  their  intuitive  power,  incisory,  penetrating  ;  but  then  the 
danger  is  at  hand  of  violating  propriety.  On  this  point  I 
have  pleasure  in  citing  a  remarkable  confession  of  Bernard 
Overberg  :  In  his  journal  he  says,  "  I  am  again  in  school  this 
morning  without  sufficient  preparation.  0  God  !  help  me  to 
reform  in  this  matter.  I  am  deceived  by  saying  to  myself, 
That  will  do  well  enough — yow  know  your  business  ;  some- 
thing else  is  more  necessary  than  preparation  for  it ;  for  every 
thing  which  can  be  postponed  is  less  important  at  this  mo- 
ment than  this  duty.  The  want  of  preparation  involves 
many  inconveniences ;  it  makes  teaching  dry,  confused,  loose, 
diffuse  ;  the  children  are  embarrassed,  they  can  not  fix  their 
attention,  and  the  lesson  becomes  uninteresting  to  them  and 
to  myselff 

Preparation  for  catechising,  even  public  catechising,  called 
oratory, \  does  not  include  a  discourse  written  and  learned  by 
heart,  much  less  preparation  for  private  instruction  given  in 
the  pastor's  domicile.  It  is  most  valuable  when  it  has  the 
character  of  a  free  and  familiar  conversation,  difficult  to  be 
retained  in  a  written  discourse.  But  the  best  preparation 
for  it  should  always  be  made.  In  general,  if  the  elements 
of  preparation,  under  its  two  forms,  are  not  the  same,  we 
may  say  they  compensate  one  another. 

Gentleness  and  patience  are  the  first  qualifications ;  ridi- 
cule is  unpardonable  ;  hardly  less  so  is  embarrassing  a  child 

*  JUVENAL  :  Sat.  xiv.,  v.  47.  "  We  can  not  be  too  respectful  to  a 
child." 

t  Notice  sur  Bernard  Overberg,  instituteur  a  fEcole  Normale  de  Miin- 
ster,  etc.,  by  J.  H.  SCHUBERT,  professor  at  Munich ;  published  in  French 
by  the  Society  of  Neufchatel,1840,  p.  26. 

t  In  German,  Predigtcatechismus. 


234  ADVICE  TO  THE  CATECHIST. 

in  the  presence  of  the  others.  Gentleness  should  be  paternal, 
but  manly.  Love  for  children  is  the  sure  means  of  an  ami- 
able deportment  toward  them,  and  will  happily  replace  an 
affectedly  mild  and  evasive  manner.  As  to  familiarity,  it 
should  certainly  not  be  wanting,  but  it  should  be  serious  : 
Seldom  should  smiling,  never  laughing,  have  place  in  relig- 
ious instruction.  We  must  be  interesting,  not  amusing.  We 
have  the  way  of  intermixing  anecdotes  with  our  instructions  ; 
but  they  ought  to  be  interspersed  with  moderation  ;  to  be  se- 
rious, and  well  brought  forward. 

The  physical  comfort  of  children  in  the  time  of  the  cate- 
chetical exercise  is  not  to  be  disregarded. 

The  exercise  should  not  be  continued  too  long  :  We  should 
especially  guard  against  going  beyond  bounds  in  exposition, 
and  economize  time  for  questioning,  which  less  fatigues  chil- 
dren, because  they  have  a  part  in  it.  We  should  not  say 
every  thing  in  the  exposition,  but  leave  it  to  the  questioning 
to  complement  general  ideas  by  particular  ideas.  The  worse 
way  of  conducting  the  business  is  to  allow  of  digressions 
which  exclude  from  view  the  principal  object,  and  from 
which  neither  the  children  nor  the  pastor  can  well  return. 
This  is  the  danger  of  the  Socratic  method  ;  an  excellent  one, 
and  also  too  little  in  use.  In  the  absolutely  Socratic  mode, 
the  child  is  too  quickly  persuaded  that  it  is  he  who  has  found 
out  every  thing,  who  has  said  ever}'  thing  :  This  will  injure 
the  pastor's  authority,  and  the  child  himself,  by  exciting  his 
self-love.  And  then  we  can  not  foresee  how  far  we  shall  go 
with  our  .familiar  detail  in  giving  a  simple  answer  to  the 
child's  question.  We  should  avoid  too  much  circuity. 

We  can  not  judge  of  a  child  with  certainty  from  the  an- 
swers he  gives  in  the  course  of  instruction  ;  we  must,  toward 
the  end  of  the  course,  see  and  examine  him  by  himself: 
They  are  not  the  best  who  know  the  most.  We  ought  to  see 
him  also,  in  order  to  establish  him  in  the  true  views  of  the 
communion  to  which  he  is  to  be  admitted.  We  must  ex- 


ADVICE  TO  THE  CATECH18T.  235 

plain  the  Lord's  Supper  to  the  child.  In  a  practical  point 
of  view,  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  subject  about  which  many 
prejudices  prevail.  This  is,  in  part,  the  fault  of  the  human 
heart.  In  general,  the  child  has  no  prejudices,  but  he  ib  ig- 
norant ;  he  should  well  understand  what  he  is  about  to  do ; 
and  the  confirmation  of  the  baptismal  vow  should  be  present- 
ed to  him  in  its  true  character.  The  formula  used  among 
us  is  very  defective ;  it  says  nothing  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
nor  of  that  grace  of  God  which  it  is  so  necessary  to  have  in 
thought  when  so  awful  a  promise  is  made  as  is  required  in 
the  formula.  This  promise  should  rather  be  a  declaration. 
The  formula,  then,  ought  at  least  to  be  complete. 

The  age  at  which  this  confirmation  takes  place  among  us* 
seems  to  be  suitable,  having  regard  to  the  idea  of  confirming 
the  baptismal  vow  freely,  with  knowledge  of  its  nature. 
What,  besides,  is  to  be  had  in  view  as  to  the  question  of  ad- 
mitting or  not  admitting,  is  true  knowledge  of  the  mystery 
of  piety  according  to  each  one's  capacity,  and  especially  the 
intelligence  of  the  heart,  the  religious  appreciation  of  this 
mystery.  For  the  first,  we  have  a  measure  ;  for  the  second, 
we  have  no  sure  means  of  knowing  it.  In  respect  to  the  last 
point,  of  course,  unless  we  have  decisive  evidence  that  the 
child  has  dispositions  directly  contrary  to  Christianity,  we 
ought  to  admit  him.  We  have  a  right  to  adjourn,  to  refuse 
confirmation  ;  but  it  is  exorbitant  to  arrogate  to  ourselves 
the  right  of  preventing  another  pastor  from  granting,  if  he 
thinks  he  can  do  so,  what  we  have  refused.  We  have  dis- 
charged our  responsibility  if  we  have  given  our  brother 
warning. 

*  Sixteen  years. 


SECTION  THIRD. 

CARE  OF  SOULS,  OR  PASTORAL  OVERSIGHT. 


CHAPTER  I. 

OF    THE    CARE    OF    SOULS    IN   GENERAL. 

$  1 .  Its  Relations  to  Preaching.     Ground  of  the  Duty  of 

the  Care  of  Souls. 

IN  treating  successively  of  the  office  of  the  preacher  and 
that  of  the  pastor,  we  have  not  meant  to  say,  most  assuredly, 
that  preaching  was  not  a  pastoral  office,  and  that  it  did  not 
itself  include  the  care  of  souls.  No  more  would  we  say  that 
the  care  of  souls,  properly  speaking,  is  substantially  distinct 
from  preaching,  since  it  is  through  the  word  that  the  care  of 
souls  is  accomplished,  and,  under  one  form  or  another,  preach- 
ing reappears  every  where.*  We  may  say,  in  one  sense,  that 
the  preacher  is  to  the  pastor  what  a  part  is  to  the  whole  ; 
but,  in  making  of  these  two  offices  two  parts,  which  are 
united  to  one  another  in  order  to  make  together  a  whole,  we 
easily  perceive  differences  as  well  as  relations  between  them. 
The  preacher  instructs  ;  the  pastor  trains  up  (in  German, 
erziehet).  The  one  acts  on  the  mass,  the  other  on  individu- 
als. The  one  receives  and  nourishes  those  who  come  ;  the 
other  seeks  those  also  who  do  not  come.  We  may  further 
add,  that  the  first  occupies  himself  with  spiritual  interests  ; 
the  second  unites  with  these,  more  or  less,  temporal  interests. 
For  the  pastor,  in  the  full  extent  of  his  employment,  and  as 

*  See,  in  the  introduction  to  the  Course  on  Homiletics,  what  we  have 
said  of  the  word  in  the  Christian  religion. 


PASTOKAL    OVERSIGHT.  237 

conformed  to  its  idea  in  the  example  of  Christ,  is  the  bene- 
factor of  his  people.*  If  the  present  state  of  society  leaves 
him  less  to  do,  another  state  may  chance  to  come  which  will 
invest  him  anew  with  his  ancient  responsibilities. 

But,  considering  only  the  moral  interests  of  the  parish,  he 
is  not  completely  a  pastor,  that  is  to  say,  a  father,  if  he  is 
only  a  preacher.  What  is  the  pastoral  spirit?  A  spirit  of 
paternity  and  of  solicitude  ;  for  this  is  the  spirit  of  God  him- 
self, as  the  Bible  reveals  him  to  us  when  it  shows  to  men 
"  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  ail-gently  leading  them  as  one  lead- 
eth  a  beast  going  down  into  the  valley"  (Isaiah,  Ixiii.,  14)  ; 
when  it  promises  them  that  they  shall  "  be  borne  upon  the 
sides  and  dandled  upon  the  knees"  (Ixvi.,  12);  and  when 
God  himself  says,  "  I  will  seek  that  which  was  lost,  and 
bring  again  that  which  was  driven  away,  and  will  bind  up 
that  which  was  broken,  and  will  strengthen  that  which  was 
sick." — Ezek.,  xxxiv.,  16.  If  such  a  charity  is  beneath  us, 
shall  such  condescension  appear  to  be  beneath  God  ?  And 
if  he  displays  it,  ought  we  to  exempt  ourselves  from  it  ?  And 
if  this  is,  indeed,  the  pastoral  spirit,  can  we  think  that  such 
a  spirit  would  not  find  preaching  alone  too  narrow  a  sphere 
for  it  ?  Now  this  spirit  is  formally  prescribed,  in  express 
precepts  and  recommendations,  when  God  says  to  his  proph- 
et, "  I  have  set  thee  for  a  tower  and  a  fortress  among  my 
people,  that  thou  mayest  know  and  try  their  ways"  (Jeremiah, 
vi.,  27);  and  when  St.  Paul  recommends  to  Timothy,  "t6 
be  instant  in  season,  out  of  season." — 2  Tim.,  iv.,  2.  This 
spirit  is  but  the  spirit  of  simple  believers,  when  they  are  be- 
lievers in  truth.  Of  them  we  expect  that  they  will  be  at- 
tentive to  one  another,  and  warn  one  another ;  for  the  Chris- 
tian, as  St.  Cyran  says,  is  but  an  imperfect  priest,  or  rather 
a  priest  commenced,  and  the  priest  is  a  perfect  and  accom- 
plished Christian.t  Besides  this,  the  minister  should  never 

*  "  In  all  their  afflictions  he  was  afflicted." — Isaiah,  Ixiii.,  9. 
t  SAINT  CYRAN  :  Lettre  a  M.  Guillebert,  chap.  xvi. 


238  PASTORAL   OVERSIGHT. 

forget  that  preaching  alone  does  not  accomplish  his  object : 
first,  because  he  is  the  pastor  of  more  than  those  who  con- 
stantly come  to  church  ;  next,  because  even  these  have  need 
of  a  more  individual  and  more  intimate  treatment.* 

The  pastor  may  not  content  himself  with  having  been  to 
his  flock  "  as  a  very  lovely  song  of  one  that  hath  a  pleasant 
voice,  and  can  play  well  on  an  instrument  of  music"  (Ezek., 
xxxiii.,  32) ;  and,  if  he  does  so,  he  will  always  have  to  re- 
proach himself  with  having  "  healed  the  plague  of  his  people 
slightly." — Jer.,  vi.,  14.  It  is  at  last  only  by  the  care  of 
souls  that  he  can  realize  and  identify  to  himself  his  flock  as 
a  flock,  and  not  only  as  an  auditory.  "  I  know  my  sheep, 
and  am  known  of  mine"  (John,  x.,  14) — he  only  is  the  good 
Shepherd  who  can  thus  speak.  This  is  the  ideal ;  we  must 
be  striving  to  reach  it.  There  is  a  constant  proportion  be- 
tween diligence  in  the  care  of  souls  and  the  life  of  the  parish. 

So  much  does  all  this  belong  to  the  essence  of  Christianity, 
that  wherever  there  is  a  revival  of  it,  the  care  of  souls  re- 
gains its  importance. 

Let  us  add  that  it  enhances  the  beauty  and  enforces  the 
obligation  of  these  functions,  that  they  offer  small  inducement 
to  self-love  and  imagination.  Here  may  be  seen  in  their 
purity  the  seriousness,  the  austerity  of  the  ministry.  Public 
preaching  is  comparatively  agreeable  and  easy  :  only  then 
can  we  be  sure  of  our  vocation  to  the  ministry,  when  we  are 
inwardly  drawn  and  constrained  to  exercise  the  care  of  souls. 
At  the  present  time,  especially,  we  can  not  but  be  aware 
that  this  work  has  become 'more  difficult.  It  is  difficult,  be- 
cause of  the  extent  of  the  parishes  ;  it  is,  above  all,  difficult, 
because  it  is  not  as  acceptable  as  it  was  once.  The  flocks 
know  our  duties  well,  but  their  own  they  know  no  more  ; 

*  In  Harms'  view,  public  preaching  is  the  least  important  part  of 
the  pastoral  office,  and,  in  some  respects,  that  which  might  be  spared 
with  the  least  disadvantage. — Pastoralthcologie,  tome  iii.,  p.  2.  See 
further  on,  chapter  ii 


ALLEGED    OBJECTIONS.  239 

and  the  precept,  "  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you" 
(Heb.,  xiii.,  17),  is  to  them  without  signification  ;  or,  to  speak 
more  correctly,  flocks  hardly  have  an  existence  any  longer. 

This  state  of  things  has  its  own  disadvantages,  which  it  is 
superfluous  to  specify ;  but  in  these  same  disadvantages  it 
finds  its  advantage.  It  does  not  abolish,  it  rather,  in  some 
sort,  perfects  the  duty.  It  makes  more  than  ever  necessary 
love — moral  authority,  of  which  love  is  the  principal  element, 
the  indispensable  condition — discretion,  thoughtfulness. 

To  exercise  and  enforce  authority  without  startling  the 
spirit  of  independence ;  here  is  a  problem  which  simplicity 
and  charity  alone  can  solve.  Even  in  their  day,  the  apostles 
had  to  protest  that  they  did  not  desire  to  domineer  over  the 
Lord's  heritage,  and  that  they  claimed  not  the  government 
of  souls,  except  as  having  to  give  account  of  them. — Heb., 
xiii.,  17.  Distrust  of  pastoral  ascendency  is  natural,  and,  to 
a  certain  extent,  legitimate.  It  appears  to  me  a  matter  for 
congratulation  that,  in  our  day,  the  pastor  can  come  to  his 
flock,  not  as  preceded  and  introduced  by  a  foreign  authority, 
but  under  the  sole  protection  of  the  pastoral  name  and  the 
holiness  of  his  undertaking  :  So  that  the  less  he  is  in  favor 
under  one  title,  the  more  welcome  will  he  be  under  the 
other. 


$  2.  Objections  against  the  Exercise  of  this  Function. 

Against  the  exercise  of  the  care  of  souls  certain  objections 
or  excuses  arise,  which  we  must  pass  in  review.* 

1.  Want  of  Taste. — But  it  is  not  an  affair  of  taste  that 
we  are  concerned  with  ;  it  is  an  affair  of  duty  :  an  essential 
interest,  not  a  detail  of  abstract  perfection.  If  taste  for  this 
part  of  the  ministry  is  wanting,  what  kind  of  taste  is  there 
for  the  other  parts  ?  If  we  have  not  a  call  to  care  for  the 
souls  of  the  flock,  one  by  one,  we  have  not  a  call  to  the  min- 
*  HARMS  :  Pastoraltheologie,  tome  Hi.,  p.  19. 


240  ALLEGED    OBJECTIONS. 

istry.     This  objection,  then,  is  all- weak  or  all-powerful — all- 
powerful  because  of  its  very  weakness. 

2.  Want  of  Time. — What  are  we  to  understand  by  this  ? 
Does  it  mean  that  we  are  to  apply  ourselves  to  this  duty  only 
when  we  have  nothing  else  to  do  ?     I  confess  I  would  rather 
hear  the  care  of  souls  objected  against  preaching,  than  preach- 
ing against  the  care  of  souls  :  I  would  rather  one  should  say 
to  me,  My  sick,  my  poor,  my  scattered  sheep  require  me, 
and  forbid  me  to  give  my  preaching  all  the  attention  which 
is  desirable.     This  objection  assumes  the  point  in  question 
as  settled,  namely,  that  we  know  that  the  care  of  souls  is 
second  in  importance  ;  but  who  has  said  this,  and  how  can 
it  be  proved  ? 

3.  Not  acceptable. — This  is  possible,  but  be  careful  that 
you  say  this  in  good  earnest.     Do  not  say  it  after  a  first  and 
indolent  effort.     "Why,  you  expect  doors  to  open  themselves 
to  you  at  your  mere  approach !    We  are,  in  general,  too  hasty 
in  saying  that  we  are  not  acceptable.     There  are  many  more 
ways  of  access  than  we  suppose,  because  there  are  more  ne- 
cessities, more  accessible  sides,  more  occasions  than  we  think 

jaf.     Our  ministry  is  not  so  sure  to  be  repelled  when  it  ex- 
hibits itself  under  the  form  of  Christian  affection. 

After  all,  it  is  natural  that  we  should  not  be  acceptable. 
The  truth,  we  all  know,  is  not  received  with  cordiality  ;  and 
the  chief  Shepherd,  certainly,  is  not  better  received  by  us 
than  we  are  by  others  ;  never  will  they  receive  us  worse  than 
we  have  received  God.  And  yet  he  came  "  to  his  own." — 
John,  i.,  11.  The  servant  is  not  greater  than  his  Lord.  Is 
not  patience  our  duty  ?  Is  it  not  the  proof  and  the  exercise 
of  our  faith  ? 


REQUISITE    QUALITIES.  241 

f  3.  Conditions  or  Qualities  requisite  for  the  Exercise  of 
the  Care  of  Souls. 

The  requisites  or  necessary  means  are  these  : 

1 .  Health.—^ The  details  of  the  care  of  souls  are  neither 
necessarily  nor  generally  dangerous  to  health,  if  the  parish  is 
not  too  large  :  A  measure  of  physical  force  and  a  good  con- 
stitution are,  however,  necessary.     But,  in  general,  he  who 
can  bear  the  burden  of  preaching  has  sufficient  physical  abil- 
ity for  the  care  of  souls.     There  may,  .however,  be  exceptions, 
and  one  should  examine  himself  well  as  to  this  point  when 
he  is  examining  his  call  to  the  pastorate,  which  is  not  divisi- 
ble in  itself. 

2.  A  certain  presence  of  mind,  which  ministers  possess 
in  different  degrees,  but  which  may  be  in  a  greater  or  less 
measure  acquired,  and  which  very  often  is  no  other  than 
presence  of  heartt  or  what  this  supplies. 

3.  Psychological   Knowledge.  —  Many  put  logic  in  the 
place  of  psychology,  which  is  a  great  evil.     Logic  is  rectilin- 
ear ;  it  cuts  its  way,  it  traverses  moral  facts  ;  psychology  is 
sinuous  and  flexible.     The  psychology  of  books  is  very  useful 
as  the  basis  of  research,  but  it  is  nothing  without  experience 
and  without  study  of  one's  self.     To  know  one's  self  well  is 
a  means  of  thus  knowing  others  ;  although  we  should  be 
prepared  for  a   strong  encounter  with  moral  combinations 
which  we  have  not  anticipated,  which  might  have  seemed 
impossible,  on  which  account  we  should  study  facts  in  the 
facts  themselves,  with  candor  and  docility. 

4.  Knowledge  of  the  Parish. — The  parish  is  not  an  ab- 
straction ;  it  is  a  concrete  fact,  it  is  an  individuality,  which 
has  no  absolute  resemblance  except  to  itself.     It  is  very  true 
that  the  knowledge  of  it  supposes  that  of  man  in  general, 
since,  if  we  do  not  know  man  in  general,  we  can  not  know 
him  in  a  certain  place  and  certain  time  ;  it  is  also  true  that 
this  general  man  is  to  be  sought  out  and  evolved  in  man  of 

L 


242  REQUISITE    QUALITIES 

a  certain  time  and  certain  place.  It  is  true  that  there  are 
things  which,  with  equal  force,  interest  and  engage  man, 
though  placed  in  the  most  different  conditions  ;  and  that  there 
are  things  which  are  important  above  all  others.  But  it  is 
not  less  true  that,  if  we  take  no  account  of  what  individualizes 
a  flock,  we  are  not  only  likely  to  he  less  useful,  less  agreeable, 
or  less  welcome,  but  also  to  counteract,  in  many  particulars, 
the  object  we  propose  to  ourselves.  As  all  external  circum- 
stances modify  the  state  of  the  soul,  they  thereby  modify  also 
the  agency  we  should  exert  upon  it.  We  must,  so  to  speak, 
ask  the  individual  man  to  introduce  us  to  mankind,  at  least 
we  must  not  let  this  individual  man  obstruct  our  road.  St. 
Paul  speaks  to  all  as  men  ;  nevertheless,  he  was  to  the  Jews 
a  Jew,  to  the  Greeks  a  Greek  ;  all  things  to  all  men.  We 
must  not  strike  keys  to  which  no  chord  corresponds,  and  leave 
those  untouched  to  which  are  connected  chords  of  the  fullest 
and  richest  sound. 

The  care  of  souls,  then,  will  not  be  the  same  in  city  and 
country,  in  a  farming  and  a  manufacturing  district,  in  the  bo- 
som of  a  population  ef  simple  manners  and  with  refined  and 
effeminate  people.  The  pastor  should  take  account  of  all 
this,  as  also  of  geographic,  climatic,  economic,  dietetic,  and 
historic  circumstances.  He  should  acquaint  himself  with 
customs,  interests,  wants,  prejudices,  opinions.  He  should 
not  limit  himself  to  certain  fruitful  data  developed  by  cer- 
tain inductions ;  he  Should  prefer  studying  things  in  the 
things  themselves.  For  between  two  parishes  in  the  same 
circumstances,  both  mountainous,  both  agricultural,  both 
rich,  or  both  poor,  he  should  still  distinguish.  The  pastor 
should,  above  all,  understand  the  religious  state  of  the  par- 
ish which  is  transferred  to  him.  This,  and  all  the  particu- 
lars to  which  we  have  referred,  should  be  the  objects  of  pro- 
longed and  perseverjng  study,  dating  from  the  moment  of 
entrance  on  his  duties  ;  but  before  his  entrance  he  must  have 
informed  himself  of  every  thing  of  importance,  and  certain 


FOR  THE  CARE  OF  SOULS.  243 

details  which  appear  small  are  important.  Without  the 
knowledge  of  these,  he  may  wound,  may  shock,  may  be  mis- 
judged, and  may  create  prejudices,  which  are  very  apt  to  be 
formed,  and  are  very  slowly  dissipated.  He  must  know  the 
good  and  the  bad,  the  strong  as  well  as  the  weak,  in  order  to 
know  what  needs  to  be  developed  and  what  to  be  repressed. 
We  may  hence  see  how  advantageous  it  may  be  for  the  same 
pastor  to  remain  a  long  time  in  the  same  parish. 

5.  Care  to  maintain  Relations  of  Confidence  and  Affec- 
tion with  the  Parish. — These  he  will  secure  in  part  by  the 
care  of  souls  ;  but,  with  a  view  to  the  care  of  souls,  he  should 
also  in  every  way  create  and  maintain  them.  The  means 
are  2^sitive  and  negative.  We  shall  not  speak  here  of  the 
first,  intending  to  present  them  hereafter  in  the  aspect,  and 
under  the  name  of  duties.  We  shall  now  speak  only  of  neg- 
ative means,  which  may  be  summed  up  in  this  :  the  avoid- 
ing of  all  useless  collision  with  interest  and  self-love,  the  vol- 
untary relinquishment  of  his  right,  according  to  the  word  of 
the  apostle,  "  Why  do  ye  not  rather  suffer  yourselves  to  be 
defrauded  ?" — 1  Cor.,  vi.,  7.  The  pastor,  unquestionably, 
should  not  encourage  evil  by  weakness  on  his  part,  but  he 
should  not  show  himself  too  fond  of  his  own  opinion,  and  ever 
ready  to  make  difficulty.  Let  him  also  be  careful  not  to 
enter  into  obligations  too  readily,  and  to  keep  himself  in  this 
respect  as  independent  as  possible.  It  is  well  here  to  call  to 
mind  an  advantage  we  have  from  our  institutions,  according 
to  which  the  pastor  receives  nothing  from  the  community, 
and  the  chance  of  dependence  can  scarcely  have  existence. 


§  4.  Three-fold  Object  of  pastoral  Oversight. 

We  will  now  resolve  the  pastoral  office  into  its  different 
elements  or  different  acts,  regarding  it  as  including  not  only 
the  religious  care  of  families, and  individuals,  but  every  thing 
except  public  instruction  and  the  celebration  of  worship. 


244  MATERIAL   AND    MORAL    INTERESTS 

Pastoral  oversight  has  a  three-fold  purpose — to  promote 
the  material,  the  moral,  and  the  spiritual  interests  of  the 
parish. 

1.  Solicitude  for  material  Interests. — If  I  speak  of  this 
first,  it  is  not  as  being  the  first,  but  rather  as  the  least  of  the 
interests  which  the  pastor  is  concerned  with,  and  that  I  may 
rise  by  degrees  to  the  true  object  of  his  ministry  and  to  the 
highest  exercise  of  his  activity.     There  are  positions  in  which 
he  will  have  few  occasions  to  interfere,  in  which,  indeed,  he 
can  not  interfere  with  propriety ;  there  are  others  from  which 
he  can  not  withhold  himself.     In  every  case,  we  would  have 
him  regardful  of  material  interests,  and  attend  to  them  ac- 
cording to  the  exigency  of  circumstances.*    We  have  no  ref- 
erence here  to  care  for  the  poor,  which  is  always  required 
of  the  pastor.     Let  him,  in  every  case,  avoid  the  character 
of  intermeddler  and  intruder,  and  the  air  of  a  man  of  busi- 
ness. 

2.  Solicitude  for  Moral  Interests. — I  speak  not  yet  of 
spiritual  interests.     There  are  unjust  or  immoral  prejudices, 
errors  of  education,  violations  of  law  and  of  morality,  which 
have  passed  into  customs,  usages  indecent  and  pernicious, 
etc.     All  evil  may  and  should  be  displaced  by  Christianity ; 
it  will  not,  however,  be  enough  to  preach  the  cross,  although 
this  should  be  done  indefatigably,  and  with  reference  to  the 
removal  of  evils,  as  included  in  the  supreme  end  which  is  to 
be  aimed  at  in  preaching  :  We  shall  still  have  to  make  bat- 
tle with  all  these  evils — descend  upon  the  stage  of  natural 
morality,  of  good  sense,  and  even  of  worldly  interest.     It  is 
very  often  the  only  means,  the  indispensable  condition  of  suc- 
cess with  many  persons.     Nor  do  we  hereby  compromise  the 
main  object ;  we  prepare  the  way  for  religion  :  it  brings  us 
into  contact  with  more  persons,  and  gives  us  influence  over 
a  greater  number  of  wills. 

Christianity  certainly  applies  itself  to  every  thing  ;  it  sub- 
*  Wild  lands  tilled  by  monks — priests  civilizers. 


OF    THE    PARISH.  245 

divides  and  ramifies  itself,  so  as  to  reach  all  abuses,  all  errors. 
Its  great  principles  may  be  successfully  called  into/  action 
against  the  subtilest  forms  of  error  and  of  sin  ;  and  we  must 
not  say  that  it  is  an  abuse  thus  to  employ  it,  and  that  it  is 
applying  Niagara  to  turn  a  mill-wheel.  No,  it  is  a  matter 
of  regret  that  Christian  preaching  does  not,  from  time  to 
time,  conduct  Christians  as  by  the  hand,  from  its  loftiest 
principles  even  to  their  l«.st  results.  But  that  individuals 
may  thus  apply  Christianity  to  their  personal  conduct,  may 
introduce  it  entirely  into  the  external  and  material  details  of 
their  life,  they  must  first  have  received  it,  and  society  suf- 
fers arid  languishes  while  it  waits  for  this  to  be  done.  Time 
presses ;  let  us,  then,  attack  evil  with'  all  the  weapons  we 
have  at  our  disposal ;  let  us  apply  to  society,  with  Christian 
charity  and  in  a  Christian  spirit,  means  which  are  within 
every  one's  reach,  motives  which  all  accept,  and  which,  after 
all,  being  legitimate  and  true,  are  really  a  part  of  the  truth. 
Let  us  never  forget  that  good  is  self-evidencing ;  that  evil  car- 
ries its  condemnation  in  itself;  that  Christianity  has  not  come 
to  create  morality,  but  to  lend  it  the  most  irresistible  motives, 
without  opposing,  without  accusing  of  absolute  inefficacy, 
those  which  may  be  drawn  from  conscience  and  the  nature 
of  things.  It  is  very  true  that  motives  of  this  sort  do  not  pro- 
duce internal  renovation,  the  moral  resurrection  of  man  ; 
they  accomplish  less,  but  this  less  is  not  valueless  ;  it  is 
worth  more,  assuredly,  than  that  nothing  to  which  we  re- 
duce our  influence  in  the  esteem  of  many  persons  by  not  urg- 
ing these  motives. 

It  may  not  be  suitable,  it  may  scarcely  be  practicable,  to 
attack  directly  every  evil  which  may  present  itself.  Besides 
that  it  is  necessary  to  give  time  in  order  to  know  evils  well, 
we  alarm  and  repel  men  by  this  impatience  and  this  indis- 
cretion. It  would  be  of  more  avail  to  begin  by  training  up 
in  the  parish  supporters  and  aids,  who,  when  they  shall  have 
the  same  conscience  with  ourselves  as  to  the  nature  of  evil, 


246  SPIRITUAL    INTERESTS THE    SCHOOL. 

will  take  the  initiative  with  us,  or  perhaps  in  our  place.* 
The  pastor  will  pursue  an  excellent  and  a  Christian  policy, 
not  to  do  every  thing  himself,  but  to  inspire  others  with  the 
desire,  and  to  teach  them  the  art  of  co-operation.  Not  only 
has  he  need  of  aids  in  his  parish,  but  he  will  accomplish  the 
more  good  by  not  having  to  do  every  thing  himself. 

3.  Solicitude  for  Spiritual  Interests. — We  so  name  this 
only  to  complete  the  circle  of  pastoral  solicitudes  ;  for  other- 
wise it  controls  and  covers  the  others.  It  ought  to  be  the 
soul  of  all  our  proceedings  and  of  all  our  activity.  Before 
all,  we  ought  to  have  in  view  the  spiritual,  that  is  to  say, 
eternal  good  of  the  members  of  our  parish  ;  and  if  it  is  true 
that  a  minister,  preoccupied  with  this  order  of  interests,  may, 
to  a  certain  extent,  lose  sight  of  other  interests,  it  is  still  more 
evident  that  a  pastor,  who  is  not  one  in  this  highest  sense 
of  the  word,  is  generally  little  suited  to  advance  the  purely 
moral,  or  even  the  material  well-being  of  the  community. 


$  5.  The  Sctiool. 

We  have  as  yet  only  considered  the  parish  in  general ; 
we  are  approaching  families  and  individuals ;  but  between 
the  parish  in  general  and  families  and  individuals,  there  is 
an  institution  of  which  we  must  speak,  namely,  the  school. 

We  shall  in  vain  attempt  to  secularize  it :  It  will  remain 
attached  to  the  Church  or  to  religion.  I  speak  of  the  popu- 
lar school,  of  that  in  which  more  or  less  may  be  taught,  but 
always  in  so  far  as  the  school  deserves  its  name,  whatever 
is  necessary  to  the  man-  and  the  Christian.  The  school  has 
need  of  religion,  and  religion  has  need  of  the  school.  The 
Church  can  not  dispense  with  the  school,  nor  the  school  with 
the  Church.  The  pastor,  for  this  cause,  should  interest  him- 
self in  whatever  pertains  essentially  to  popular  instruction  ; 

*  HU'FFELL  :  Ueber  das  Wesen  und  den  Beruf  des  Evangelisch-christ- 
lichen  Geistlichen,  third  edition.  Giessen,  1835,  tome  ii.,  p.  270. 


THE    SCHOOL.  247 

but  should  connect,  or,  rather,  intermingle  religion  with  ev- 
ery thing.  He  is  never  to  forget  that  he  is  its  minister,  nor 
lay  aside  his  character  as  a  minister  in  his  co-operation  in 
the  government  of  the  school.  This  does  not  imply  that  he 
is  to  limit  himself  exclusively  to  religion  ;  does  not  mean  that 
the  minister,  as  much  as  any  other  man,  may  not  concern 
himself  with  the  entire  assemblage  of  interests  which  are 
involved  in  this  great  work  of  popular  instruction. 

I  do  not  mean  to  intimate  that  he  should  take  from  the 
regent  of  the  school  the  province  of  religious  instruction  ;  but 
that,  without  excluding  him,  he  should  teach  him  how  to  in- 
struct, and  aid  him  in  teaching. 

As  a  member  or  president  of  the  school  commissioners, 
the  minister  may  use  what  influence  he  has,  but  not  seek  to 
domineer  or  do  every  thing  :  He  should  think  it  more  proper 
and  more  useful  to  teach  others  to  do  well,  and,  as  the  case 
may  be,  in  his  turn  to  learn  from  others.  If  circumstances  in 
which  his  relative  superiority  gives  him  the  preponderance, 
secure  to  him  the  ascendency,  he  should  be  condescending  and 
deferential :  He  should  not  make  his  colleagues  instruments 
or  mere  supporters  to  himself,  but  as  much  as  possible  col- 
laborators. 

This  counsel  is  applicable  to  all  institutions,  to  all  works, 
in  which  the  pastor  may  be  called  to  take  a  principal  part. 

We  come  to  the  pastor's  relations  to  families  and  individ- 
uals. 


§  6.  Relations  to  Families :  Pastoral  Visits. 

I  speak  of  families,  because  it  is  especially  through  fam- 
ilies that  the  minister  reaches  individuals,  of  whom  we  are 
to  speak  hereafter  ;  and  because,  again,  it  is  important  that 
he  should  maintain  relations  to  families  as  families.  The 
family,  the  only  group  which  remains  in  society  below  the 
national  group — the  family,  a  natural  bundle,  not  compact 


248  PASTORAL    VISITS. 

enough,  perhaps,  but  not  dissolved,  is  a  most  valuable  fact 
for  the  minister,  who  through  it  reaches  without  effort  many 
individuals  at  once,  in  a  manner  sufficiently  indirect  not  to 
alarm  their  liberty,  sufficiently  direct  to  act  upon  them  close- 
ly and  strongly.  I  add,  with  earnestness,  that  the  minister 
should  have  to  do  with  families,  that  he  may,  as  much  as  he 
possibly  can,  verify,  consecrate,  confirm  this  divine  institution. 

Nevertheless,  individuals  are  to  be  reached,  since  it  is  only 
the  individual  who  is  or  is  not  a  Christian  ;  who  receives  or 
does  not  receive  the  truth.  We  shall  not,  therefore,  dwell 
long  on  families  ;  but  before  we  pass  to  individuals,  not  again 
to  leave  them,  we  will  say  something  concerning  an  import- 
ant duty  which  relates  to  families  and  to  individuals,  and  is 
a  powerful  means  of  reaching  both.  I  refer  to  pastoral  visits, 

These  pastoral  visits  are  neither  purely  social  visits,  such 
as  well-bred  people  pay  to  one  another  from  convenience  or 
taste,  nor  those  official  visits,  domiciliary  visits,  so  to  speak, 
which  have  a  somewhat  inquisitorial  character.  They  ought 
to  be  pastoral,  and  purely  pastoral,  but  familiar  and  friendly. 
Those  to  whom  they  are  made  should  recognize  the  pastor,  but 
should  recognize  in  him  the  friend  and  the  father.  We  should 
not  be  burdensome  ;  we  should  leave  or  put  at  ease  those 
who  receive  us  ;  we  should  exclude  every  idea  of  ceremony 
and  worldly  politeness. 

Tissot  has  very  well  shown  what  pastoral  visits  in  the 
country  ought  to  be,  and  how  a  true  pastor  can  make  them 
inexpensive  to  himself,  and  secure  their  just  result. 

"  What  fatal  influences  has  not  effeminacy  in  the  church- 
man ?  I  fear  not  to  say  that  on  neither  his  knowledge  nor  his 
eloquence  does  the  well-being  of  the  precious  deposit  which 
is  confided  to  him  depend  ;  it  depends  on  his  vigilance,  his 
activity.  It  is  not  by  adorning  his  sermon  in  his  study-re- 
treat that  he  enlightens  the  people  ;  the  sermons  he  delivers 
in  the  temple  are  not  his  most  efficacious  sermons.  When 
the  people  hear  the  holy  truths;  when  they  see  the  man 


PASTORAL    VISITS.  249 

commissioned  to  announce  them,  only  in  the  sacred  place, 
they  do  not  take  them  home — they  come  to  make  them  a 
ceremonious  visit  on  the  following  Sunday.  It  is  in  the  midst 
of  their  field,  it  is  when  they  are  repairing  their  hedges,  it  is 
when  they  are  taking  repose  at  the  shop- door,  it  is  when  the 
severity  of  the  weather  keeps  them  within  doors,  or  when  an 
event  of  some  importance  occurs  among  them,  that  you  may 
hope,  sacred  men,  to  inculcate  the  truths  that  should  direct 
that  conduct  which  is  to  appear  one  day  as  a  witness  for  or 
against  you. 

"  If  you  would  instruct  your  parishioner,  associate  the 
truth,  his  duties,  your  idea,  with  his  daily  labors  :  Let  his 
harvest-field  remind  him  of  the  conversation  you  had  with 
him  when  he  was  sowing  ;  let  the  cutting  of  his  second  crop 
recall  the  ideas  you  unfolded  to  him  when  he  was  mowing  his 
hay ;  and,  in  a  word,  let  him  find  you  every  where,  and  let 
him  every  where  love  to  find  you.  But  how  may  this  be  if 
you  venture  to  go  nowhere  ?  How  attach  him  to  his  duties 
when  you  seem  to  be  so  little  concerned  to  make  him  love 
them  ?  How  shall  he  not  fear  his  yoke  (and  this  fear  is  the 
pest  of  virtue),  if  you  fear  so  much  to  touch  it  ?  How  not 
hate  his  condition,  if  those  whom  he  thinks  happy  so  care- 
fully estrange  themselves  from  it  ?"* 

Visits  like  these  have  many  advantages.  They  make  the 
pastor  well  acquainted  with  the  moral  and  material  wants 
of  the  families  of  his  parish  ;  they  knit  and  tighten  friendly 
relations  ;  they  open  the  way  to  action  on  individuals. 

Shall  we  wait  for  some  particular  occasion  before  we  make 
them  ?  It  is  well  to  make  them  without  an  occasion,  with- 
out any  immediate  motive,  that  when  a  special  case  shall 
render  them  particularly  necessary,  they  may  not  have  a 
strange  and  alarming  character. 

It  is  also  well,  however,  to  take  advantage  of  events  which 
impress  the  soul,  and  dispose  the  heart  to  open  itself  (mol- 
*  Essai  sur  la  Vie  de  Tissol,  par  CH.  EYNARD.    Lausanne,  1839,  p.  109. 
L2 


*  •** 

250  PASTORAL    VISITS. 

lessima  fandi  tempora),  without  affectation,  and  without 
abusing  them.  Dread  procrastination,  or  the  habit  of  delay — 
How  many  pastors,  how  many  Christians,  have  had  cause 
to  deplore  that,  by  their  repeated  delays,  they  left  destinies 
to  consummate  themselves,  of  which,  for  a  moment  at  least, 
they  had  the  power  to  determine  the  course. 

As  far  as  possible,  all  the  parishioners  should  be  visited  by 
the  pastor ;  all,  at  least,  should  be  approached — the  friends 
of  our  ministry,  and  also  its  adversaries  (as  adversaries  never 
should  be  recognized,  unless  they  have  given  us  flagrant 
proofs  of  enmity),  the  rich  and  the  poor.  If  the  pastor  saw 
only  the  rich,  we  might  boldly  say,  without  closer  examina- 
tion, that  his  visits  are  not  pastoral,  but  social  ones  :  If  he 
should  see  only  the  poor,  we  ought  not  to  say  as  we  have 
often  heard  said,  that  the  poor  man  alone  has  a  pastor ;  for, 
indeed,  he  has  not  one  ;  he  is  not  a  true  pastor  who  concerns 
himself  only  with  the  poor ;  that  is  to  say,  with  him  whose 
poverty  obliges  him,  whether  he  will  or  no,  to  accept  his  pas- 
tora'  attentions. 


INSTRUCTION    OF    INDIVIDUALS.  251 


CHAPTER  II. 

OP  THE    CARE    OF    SOULS   APPLIED    TO   INDIVIDUALS. 

§  1 .  Introduction— Division  of  the  Subject. 

IT  is  only  an  absolute  impossibility  that  can  justify  the 
pastor  in  not  occupying  himself  immediately  with  individuals. 
If  he  had  the  leisure  to  examine  thoroughly  the  situation  and 
the  wants  of  each  one,  and  to  be  his  pastor  as  assiduously  as 
he  is  that  of  the  flock,  he  ought  to  do  it.  Even  if  each  in- 
dividual might  be  preached  to  apart,  and  directed  at  leisure, 
still  preaching  to  the  whole  flock  should  have  place  ;  of  this 
we  have  elsewhere  given  the  reasons  ;*  but  it  is  not  the  less, 
on  this  account,  a  secondary  office  for  the  pastor,  and  the  in- 
struction of  individuals  remains  of  the  first  importance.  The 
pastor,  then,  as  much  as  possible,  must  address  himself  to  in- 
dividuals. 

Solicitude  for  individuals  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
New  Testament  and  the  new  ministry.  It  is  very  remark- 
able that  the  same  religion  which  has  founded  a  Church,  and 
has  given  to  this  institution  a  reality  which  is  almost  a  per- 
sonality, has  consecrated  the  individuality  of  man  as  a  relig- 
ious being,  and  put  this  beyond  controversy  and  beyond  at- 
tack. This  same  religion,  it  is,  and  this  alone,  that  has  re- 
gard only  to  individual  effects,  or  makes  these  the  last  end 
of  its  efforts.  The  Gospel  is  addressed,  the  preacher  is  sent, 
not  to  peoples,  to  masses,  but  to  all  the  individuals  of  which 
the  masses  or  peoples  are  composed.  If  the  preachers  seek 
to  act  on  masses,  it  is  with  reference  to  individuals  ;  not  that 
one  individual  is  of  more  value  than  a  thousand,  which  is  an 
absurdity,  but  more  than  a  people,  as  far  as  it  is  a  people, 
*  See  the  Introduction  to  the  Course  on  Homiletics. 


252  INSTRUCTION    OF    INDIVIDUALS. 

more  than  a  mass  as  such.  It  is,  then,  with  individuals  that 
we  have  to  do,  less  directly  in  preaching,  more  immediately 
in  the  care  of  souls,  which  is  without  object,  without  reason 
when  the  individual  loses  his  reality,  or  even  his  importance. 
The  minister  seeks  them  in  worship  or  in  public,  only  because 
he  is  not  sure  of  finding  them  elsewhere,  or  because  he  has 
things  to  say  which  he  can  speak  only  to  assembled  indi- 
viduals, or,  finally,  because  the  public  assembly  symbolizes 
equality,  the  community  of  interests,  the  communion  of 
hearts.  But  so  far  as  he  may  hope  to  find  them  elsewhere, 
he  is  to  seek  them  there.  This  is  the  first  duty,  the  first  form 
of  pastoral  ministration  ;  public  preaching  is  only  its  comple- 
ment. A  friend  who,  wishing  to  enjoy  a  familiar  conversa- 
tion with  his  friend,  is  contented  to  see  him  in  a  great  com- 
pany, and  who,  having  some  particular  thing  to  say  to  him, 
which  concerns  no  one  but  him,  should  fuse  what  was  spe- 
cially applicable  to  him  into  a  general  discourse,  would  be  a 
singular  friend.  Now  every  one  needs  instruction  suitable 
to  himself  only,  or,  at  least,  he  needs  to  have  us  appropriate 
to  his  particular  use,  his  particular  circumstances,  that  gen- 
eral instruction  which  he  may  have  received  in  common  with 
others,  but  which  very  often,  for  want  of  such  care,  is  lost  to 
him.  One  after  another  he  passes  through  different  states, 
internal  or  external,  for  which  general  preaching  does  not 
suffice.  The  pastor  knows  this  ;  if  he  can  deal  with  this 
soul  apart,  shall  he  not  do  it  ?  How  can  he  avoid  reflecting 
that  preaching  may  have  prepared  the  way  for  a  work  in 
this  soul — that  preaching  may  complete  it  if  it  be  once  begun, 
but  that  the  decisive  moment,  either  of  the  life  or  of  the  par- 
ticular situation,  may  call  for  a  more  minute  and  more  deli- 
cate work.  And,  lastly,  with  what  eye  will  the  whole  par- 
ish look  on  a  pastor  who  is  a  pastor  only  in  the  pulpit,  who 
does  not,  so  to  speak,  descend  from  the  pulpit,  and  who, 
though  he  may  know  individuals,  wishes  only  to  know  the 
mass  ?  As  much  as  pastoral  zeal  in  the  care  of  souls  adds 


INTERNAL    STATE.  253 

force  to  preaching,  so  much  does  negligence  in  the  pastor  en- 
feeble the  preacher. 

We  have  now  indicated  certain  natural,  and,  so  to  speak, 
legal  occasions  of  approaching  individuals  ;  there  are  others 
which  charity  induces,  and  which  prudence  determines  us  to 
improve.  They  are  not  wanting  to  him  who  desires  them. 
We  recommend  no  offensive  importunity  :  at  the  same  time, 
it  is  important  that  the  pastor  should  assure  himself  that  the 
solicitude  which  makes  him  seek  occasion  is  rarely  taken 
amiss  when  it  is  characterized  by  frankness  and  simplicity. 

We  now  discriminate  between  individuals.  Individuals 
are  distinguished  from  one  another  by  their  external  circum- 
stances and  by  their  internal  state.  We  shall  give  our  at- 
tention first  to  circumstances  which  pertain  to  the  latter. 

$  2.  Internal  State. 

The  same  tendencies  reappear  at  all  periods,  and  we  may 
affirm  that  the  smallest  flock  presents  all  the  shades  of  truth 
and  of  error.  But  the  proportion  varies,  and  each  period,  each 
place  has  its  character,  which  results  from  the  predominance 
of  certain  elements.  Every  where  there  is  some  excess  or 
some  void.  Mysticism,  antinomianism,  legalism,  the  bondage 
of  the  letter,  by  turns  prevail. 

However  it  may  be  as  to  this,  there  are,  as  concerns  the 
internal  state,  different  classes,  which  in  each  flock  are  more 
or  less  numerous. 

I.  The  first  is  that  of  decidedly  pious  persons,  who  are  at 
a  more  or  less  advanced  stage  in  the  evangelical  life.  We  do 
not  think  that  these  should  be  left  to  themselves,  or  that  ad- 
vice and  direction  should  be  tefused  them,  but  we  insist  that 
they  ought  not  to  be  withdrawn  from  the  discipline  of  God's 
Spirit.  It  is  important  that  we  do  not  interfere  with — we 
should  rather  cherish — their  sense  of  their  liberty,  their  re- 


254  CLASSIFICATION    OP   INDIVIDUALS. 

sponsibility,  and  their  own  privileges.  The  pastor  should  be- 
ware of  permitting  himself  to  be  erected  into  a  pope,  or  even 
into  a  director  of  conscience.  He  should  be  the  aid  of  liber- 
ty, not  its  substitute. 

These  individuals,  who  form  the  choice  ones  of  the  flock, 
naturally  feel  a  need  of  more  intimate  relations  with  the 
pastor,  and  of  more  thorough  and  more  minute  instruction. 
As  they  know  more,  they  see  they  have  more  to  learn.  It 
would  be  wrong  to  have  no  regard  to  their  case  ;  and  the 
pastor,  isolated  as  he  is  in  his  parish,  has  as  much  need  of 
them  as  they  have  of  him.  But  he  can  not,  in  this  matter, 
satisfy  entirely  them  and  himself.  On  the  one  hand,  the  pas- 
tor is  pastor  of  the  whole  flock,  and,  according  to  the  precept  of 
St.  Paul  (Acts,  xxii.,  28),  must  care  for  the  whole  flock  ;  on 
the  other  hand,  he  ought,  for  the  sake  of  the  peace  and  unity 
of  his  flock,  to  be  willing  to  deprive  himself,  and  to  deprive 
them  also,  of  some  lawful  delights.  Not  without  reflectior 
and  caution  should  he  appoint  an  extra-official  service  for 
their  sakes  especially.*  The  means  of  intercourse  which 
pastoral  visits,  in  some  parishes,  offer,  should  be  preferred. 
We  must  not,  however,  let  our  measures  for  the  welfare  of 
the  multitude  carry  the  appearance  of  timidity  or  the  fear 
of  man,  nor  should  the  pastor  dissemble  his  sympathy  for 
those  who  are  most  zealous  in  serving  God.f 

All  pious  men  are  not  pious  after  the  same  manner :  Al- 
most always  one  element  predominates,  and  some  other  suf- 
fers. There  is  always  a  weak  side  to  be  strengthened,  with 

*  No  small  offense  was  given,  in  one  instance  within  the  trans- 
lator's knowledge,  by  a  service  intended  distinctively  for  a  class  sup- 
posed to  be  in  a  higher  state  of  religious  feeling  than  the  rest  of  the 
flock.  It  may  be  allowable  to  appoint  a  service  of  this  description, 
but  this  instance  gave  proof  that  siRh  a  service  ought  not  to  be  ap- 
pointed "  without  reflection  and  caution." — Transl. 

t  See  the  Praktische  Bemerkungen  of  HERNHUTT,  p.  103 ;  Gcmein- 
tchaft  der  Erweckten. 


VARIOUS    CLASSES    OP    PIOUS    PERSONS.  255 

which  we  must,  in  the  first  place,  make  ourselves  acquaint- 
ed. 

1.  To  those  in  whom  the  principle  of  faith  prevails  we  must 
recommend  works,  by  insisting  that,  whatever  changes  may 
have  taken  place  in  our  disposition  and  our  state  toward  God, 
the  law  remains  law ;  and  that  we  may  renounce  by  our 
works  (Titus,  i.,  16)  the  God  whom  we  profess  to  know,  and 
whom  we  may  know  in  truth.     We  must  warn  them  of  the 
snares  which  our  natural  man  may  find  in  Christian  liberty  ; 
we  must,  without  taking  this  liberty  away,  teach  them  how  to 
use  it  prudently,  and  especially  not  to  despise  Christians  less 
advanced  or  weak  in  the  faith  (Rom.,  xvi.,  2),  who  dare  not 
use  their  liberty,  but  whom  we  ought  not,  on  that  account, 
hastily  to  regard  as  strangers  to  the  covenant  of  grace. 

2.  To  those  who,  endeavoring  to  add  to  their  faith  virtue 
(2  Pet.,  i.,  5),  are  in  danger  of  forgetting  in  this  so  necessary 
industry  that  the  first  act  of  obedience  is  faith,  and  the  work, 
par  excellence,  tJie  work  of  God  (John,  vi.,  29),  is,  to  believe 
on  Him  whom  He  hath  sent — we  must  show,  as  open  at  their 
side,  that  abyss  of  self-righteousness  in  which  true  righteous- 
ness is  lost  and  disappears. 

3.  To  the  scrupulous,  the  timorous — that  the  kingdom  of 
God  does  not  consist  in  meat  and  drink,  but  in  righteousness, 
in  peace  and  in  joy,  through  the  Holy  Spirit  (Rom.,  xiv.,  17) ; 
and  that  if  we  must  be  always  proving  anew  what  is  accept- 
able to  the  Lord  (Eph.,  v.,  10),  this  useful  exercise  of  con- 
science and  of  reason  represses  anxiety,  and  should  unite 
with  itself  a  feeling  of  tranquil  trust  in  that  God  who,  hav- 
ing given  us  the  substantial  truth,  will  certainly  not  permit 
an  upright  and  sincere  intention  to  err  very  seriously. 

4.  To  the  superstitious,  that  is  to  say,  to  those  who,  through 
a  weakness  of  imagination,  or  a  sort  of  spiritual  sloth,  prefer, 
in  inquiring  for  the  will  of  God,  to  consult  some  sign  exterior 
to  the  conscience,  which  is  the  internal  sign,  we  must  show 
that  the  benefit  of  faith  is  to  be  found,  not  in  our  renouncing 
the  natural  means  of  knowing  and  judging,  but  in  causing 


256  VARIOUS   CLASSES    OF   PIOUS    PERSONS. 

us  to  make  a  good  use  of  them ;  and  that  to  proceed  other- 
wise is  under  a  vain  appearance  of  piety,  to  remit  to  chance, 
or  rather  to  passion,  which  authorizes  all  chances,  the  labor 
of  determining  our  course. 

In  short,  the  task  of  the  minister  as  to  those  pious  souls, 
whose  various  errors  consist  in  the  exaggeration  of  some  true 
principle,  is  to  re-establish  the  equilibrium,  by  inculcating 
the  particular  principle  which  they  have  lost  sight  of,  either 
in  practice  or  in  theory.  Certain  doctrines,  certain  points  of 
view,  to  which  preaching  ordinarily  allows  but  little  place, 
regain  their  importance  in  the  care  of  souls ;  and  we  may 
say  that  in  this  sphere  no  article  of  truly  Christian  theology 
ever  remains  inactive.  It  is  with  all  individual  Christianity 
as  it  is  with  the  forms  of  human  government ;  at  first  each 
of  them  corresponds  to  the  general  idea  of  society,  then  more 
particularly  to  some  one  of  the  conditions  of  social  life  ;  in 
other  words,  each  has  a  principle  from  which  it  borrows  its 
form ;  but  each  also  tends  to  exaggerate  the  principle  on 
which  it  is  founded,  as  if  that  principle  were  the  social  prin- 
ciple itself.  Pure  Christianity,  which  has  been  in  some  part 
defined,  while  pure  society  has  been  in  no  part,  has  a  prin- 
ciple which  can  not  be  exaggerated,  because  it  includes  all 
principles,  that  is  to  say,  all  the  weights  and  counter  weights 
of  truth.  But  with  no  individual  has  it  this  largeness  and 
this  perfection  ;  all  individual  Christianity  makes  a  principle 
to  itself,  which  it  incessantly  tends  to  exaggerate,  instead  of 
tempering  it  with  the  opposite  principle.  To  this  contem- 
perature  must  we  recall  the  individual,  either  by  presenting 
Christianity  to  him  as  a  harmonious  whole,  or  by  preaching 
to  him  the  truth  which  he  has  forgotten,  or  of  which  he 
makes  no  use. 

The  work  of  grace  in  some  souls  conceals  itself  from  all 
the  world ;  it  is  concealed  from  themselves.  These  souls 
whom  God  has  endued  with  a  priceless  docility  are  as 
mouldable  as  the  water  to  the  form  of  the  vase.  They  are 


UNCONSCIOUS    FAITH.  257 

not  born  Christians,  but  they  become  Christians  with  so  little 
effort,  that  they  seem  to  owe  to  the  beneficence  of  their  na- 
ture what  others  obtain  only  at  the  expense  of  painful  con- 
flicts or  of  long  reflection :  So  that  these  latter  may  say, 
"With  a  great  price  bought  I  this  freedom  ;"  while  the  oth- 
ers, at  least  in  one  sense,  may  reply,  "but  I  was  free-born." 
— Acts,  xxii.,  28.  These  souls  sometimes  betray  themselves 
by  wondrous  signs  at  the  solemn  hour  of  death ;  but  during 
life  no  one  observed  them ;  and  had  any  one  interrogated 
them,  he  would  have  obtained  a  very  imperfect  account  of 
their  faith.  It  is  even  possible  that  the  imperfection  of  their 
theory  reveals  itself  in  some  measure  in  imperfection  of  prac- 
tice, and  that  they  have  not  said  as  often  and  as  loudly  as 
others,  Lord,  Lord  !  Their  faith  remains  in  a  state  of  involu- 
tion and  of  synthesis.  They  have  thought  little  of  their  re- 
ligion because  it  was  not  in  their  nature  to  think  much.  We 
can  not  say  that  they  have  laid  down  their  arms  ;  for,  to  say 
the  truth,  they  have  never  resisted.  But  by  slow  degrees 
they  have  conformed  themselves  to  the  Christian  spirit,  it 
has  entered  into  their  habits  of  life  ;  they  feel  all  that  others 
think,  and  that  which  others,  yet  more  happy,  both  think  and 
feel  ;  they  renounce  from  the  heart  all  righteousness,  they 
embrace  with  the  heart  the  mystery  of  mercy  ;  their  con- 
science has  become  tender  ;  without  method  they  practice  a 
severe  self-discipline  ;  they  know  nothing,  and  they  know 
every  thing.  Seek  out  these  souls  ;  they  are  more  numerous, 
perhaps,  than  you  suppose.  Learn  to  encourage  and  cherish 
them  :  Turn  them  not  out  of  the  course  which  their  nature 
prescribes  to  them  :  Force  not  these  instruments  of  music  to 
give  forth  sounds  which  they  can  not  give  forth ;  disturb 
them  not  with  formularies  ;  deprive  them  not  of  their  naivete  ; 
accept  their  language — accommodate  yours  to  theirs  ;  and  do 
not  undertake  to  correct  their  expressions  unless  required  by 
regard  to  their  religious  welfare,  and  only  as  far  as  this  de- 
mands. 


258  NEW    CONVERTS THE    AWAKENED. 

II.  We  pass  to  the  new  converts.     The  fervor  of  their  first- 
love  is  useful  directly  by  the  works  it  produces  :    There  are 
important  ones  among  them  which  are  peculiar  to  this  pe- 
riod of  the  spiritual  life.     This  fervor  is  also  useful  as  a  re- 
buke to  those  who  have  suffered  the  gift  which  was  in  them 
to  be  impaired  :  It  is  a  leaven  which  God  is  incessantly  cast- 
ing into  the  mass  of  the  Church.     But  this  period  is  not  ordi- 
narily that  of  moderation  and  balance  of  mind  ;  and  we  know 
that  the  primitive  Church  interdicted  the  ministry  to  new 
converts.     It  is  ordinarily  the  period  of  bitter  zeal,  of  a  con- 
troversial spirit,  of  severe  judgments  :  we  forget  what  we 
were  the  evening  before,  and  we  forget  it  the  more,  it  seems, 
because  we  have  ascended  from  so  great  a  depth.     Though 
we  know  that  we  ourselves  have  been  the  objects  and  the 
monuments  of  so  great  a  patience,  we  are  too  ready  to  say 
impatiently  of  our  neighbor,  as  the  man  of  the  parable,  "  Cut 
him  down ;  why  cumbereth  he  the  ground  !"     It  is  also  the 
time  when  we  abuse  Christian  liberty;  the  time  of  presump- 
tion :  We  would  preach  to  and  school  all  the  world,  and  per- 
haps the  very  person  from  whom  we  obtained  our  first  light, 
whence  results  a  danger  to  this  last,  also,  who  may  not  be 
always  disposed  to  say  with  Moses,  "Would  to  God  all  the 
Lord's  people  were  prophets." — Numb.,  xi.,  20.     Let  all  this 
show  the  pastor  that  new  converts  should  be  treated  with 
indulgence  and  with  severity.     He  must  not  depress  the 
spirit  which  is  in  them,  nor  permit  a  demon  to  enter  through 
the  breach  which  an  angel  has  made. 

III.  Another  class  is  that  of  the  awakened,  although  very 
often  he  whom  we  call  awakened  is  a  true  convert,  and  the 
convert,  as  we  term  him,  is  but  an  awakened  person.     The 
awakening  of  a  soul  is  the  emotion  of  interest  or  inquietude 
which,  after  long  unconcern,  it  feels  toward  spiritual  things, 
and  which  differs  from  emotions  of  the  same  kind  which  it 
may  have  before  felt,  in  that  it  has  become  an  habitual  and 
dominant  state.     It  is  a  delicate  matter  to  direct  such  souls. 


TROUBLED    SOULS.  259 

We  must  concur  with  the  work  without  precipitating  it ; 
we  must  assist  them  in  walking,  .but  not  carry  them ;  must 
have  respect  to  their  individuality  ;  neither  anticipate  nor 
require  a  series  of  impressions  and  of  states  of  mind  conform- 
ed to  a  catalogue  prepared  beforehand ;  not  desire  to  give  a 
name  to  each  of  the  states ;  and  especially  not  to  call  for 
the  exercise  of  a  principle  before  the  principle  has  been  ob- 
tained ;*  not  forget  that  if  there  are  dispositions  and  actions 
which  at  any  moment  of  the  spiritual  life  are  to  be  recog- 
nized as  bad,  there  are  others  the  character  of  which  is  re- 
vealed gradually,  and  in  proportion  as  Christian  principle  be- 
comes more  distinct  and  more  manifest ;  and  that  in  the 
conduct  of  souls  we  have  reason  to  stand  in  doubt  of  too  easy 
success,  or  of  complaisant  sacrifices  performed  without  any 
sense  of  their  necessity,  and  consequently  of  a  merely  arbitrary 
nature. 

IV.  There  are  souls  not  only  awakened,  but  troubled,  in 
whom  inquietude,  which  is  the  ground  of  all  awakening,  has 
the  character  of  anguish  and  despair.  We  may  even  say 
that  with  many  trouble  precedes  true  awakening  ;  and  often 
such  souls  in  whom  a  strictly  spiritual  concern  does  not  yet 
exist  are  induced  to  seek  the  pastor  by  a  vague  but  insup- 
portable anguish,  and  come  to  him  in  the  simple  thought 
that  there  are  remedies  for  the  soul  as  physicians  have  them 

*  It  may  be  no  less  important  to  guard  the  awakened  against  sup- 
posing that  they  may  have  an  excuse  for  not  having  the  principle ; 
or  that  because  they  are  without  the  principle,  the  exercise  of  it,  or 
the  action  in  which  it  expresses  itself,  is  not  to  be  required  of  them. 
It  is  often  necessary  to  admonish  them  that  the  exercise  of  the  prin- 
ciple is  the  sum  of  their  duty ;  that  no  right  action  can  be  performed 
while  they  are  destitute  of  the  principle ;  and  that  to  obtain  the  prin- 
ciple is  what  concerns  them  above  all,  and  before  all.  "Make  the 
tree  good  and  his  fruit  good." — Matt.,  xii.,  23.  "Make  you  a  new 
heart  and  a  new  spirit,  for  why  will  ye  die?" — Ezek.,  xviii.,  31. 
"  Break  up  your  fallow  ground,  and  sow  not  among  thorns." — Jer., 
iv.,  3.— Tr 


260  TROUBLED    MINDS. 

for  the  body,  and  that  they  would  be  better  received  of  no 
one  than  of  him.  The  pastor  may  always  assure  himself 
that  this  trouble  arises  from  reminiscences  that  disturb  the 
conscience,  and  from  a  need  of  expiation  rather  felt  than  dis- 
tinctly recognized.  This  trouble  may  not  cease,  and  the 
principle  of  a  new  life  be  formed  in  such  souls  unless  they 
make  a  sincere  confession.*  This  we  must  know  how  to  ob- 
tain ;  but  love  will  obtain  every  thing.  The  more  this  pro- 
ceeding costs,  the  greater  the  reason  for  it.  Often  all  appears 
easy  after  the  first  effort,  and  the  soul,  as  if  released  from  a 
burden  which  was  crushing  it,  rises  up  and  walks. 

We  may  speak  here  of  a  class  of  persons  whose  soul,  in  the 
strict  sense,  is  not  troubled,  but  who  are  more  troubled  in 
mind  by  doubts  or  scruples.  This,  with  some,  is  the  effect 
of  a  natural  skepticism  ;  with  others,  of  a  self-tormenting 
disposition  about  every  thing,  or,  finally,  of  an  indiscrete  cu- 
riosity. Religious  movement  has  exceedingly  multiplied  the 
demand  for  counsels  and  solutions,  but  it  has  not  proportion- 
ably  increased  by  its  own  activity  the  resources  of  religious' 
and  moral  instruction  which  we  have  need  of,  and  which  the 
pulpit  is  expected  to  afford. 

In  our  Church  there  could  not  be  a  ministry  if  the  secret 
of  confession  was  not  inviolable  as  it  is  in  the  Romish  Church  : 
Every  one  who  confesses  himself  to  a  pastor  should  have  rea- 
son so  to  regard  it ;  but  when  the  revelation  of  a  secret  is 
the  only  way  of  preventing  a  crime,  secrecy  on  the  part  of 
the  pastor  would  involve  him  in  the  criminality.  But  in 
this  case  he  must  give  the  person  no  reason  to  think  that  he 
holds  himself  bound  to  secrecy,  so  that  he  shall  have  no  show 
of  occasion  to  be  surprised  when  the  disclosure  is  made. 

The  formal  absolution  which  follows  Catholic  confession 
rests  upon  a  purely  Christian  idea.  The  Catholic  Church 
is  not  mistaken  in  adding  absolution  to  the  external  act  of 

*  "  He  that  covereth  his  sins  shall  not  prosper ;  but  whoso  con- 
fesseth  and  forsaketh  them  shall  find  mercy." — Proverbs,  xxviii.,  13. 


DEAD    ORTHODOXY.  261 

confession,  and  not  to  the  dispositions  and  motives  indicated  in 
the  passage  we  have  referred  to,  Prov.,  xxviii.,  13.  The  min- 
ister should  make  this  well  understood,  as  also  the  absence  of 
all  merit,  and  of  all  intrinsic  power  of  reconciliation  in  the  acts 
of  privation  and  reparation  which  perhaps  should  follow  con- 
fession, and  which  in  certain  cases  may  he  useful  and  praise- 
worthy. Among  these  acts,  a  confession  made  to  others  be- 
sides the  pastor,  especially  a  confession  made  to  the  offended 
person,  if  there  be  one,  may  be  of  great  importance,  and  some- 
times of  real  necessity.  Sometimes,  even,  nothing  short  of  a 
public  confession  can  fully  satisfy  us  ;  but  I  doubt  whether 
the  pastor  should  ever  suggest  this  idea ;  he  may,  indeed, 
sometimes  dissuade  his  penitent  from  taking  this  course ;  he 
assumes  a  great  responsibility  in  confirming  him  in  his  pur- 
pose ;  nevertheless,  he  may  see  himself  called  to  do  so.  The 
scandal  of  a  whole  life  may  demand,  at  the  moment  of  death, 
a  reparation  of  this  kind. 

V.  We  have  next  to  speak  of  the  orthodox,  who  pervert 
the  faith,  not  objectively,  but  in  its  character,  by  erecting  it 
into  a  work,  and  disconcerting,  defeating,  so  to  speak,  the 
purpose  of  God,  while  accepting  it  with  the  appearance  of 
perfect  submission.  They  verify  the  observation  contained 
in  these  lines : 

"  De  mal  croyant  a  mecreant 
L'intervalle  n'est  pas  bien  grand."* 

The  cure  of  this  religious  disease  is  one  of  the  greatest  diffi- 
culty ;  since  here  the  merit  of  a  most  servile  strictness  may 
be  attached  to  a  belief  the  most  evangelical.  Some  have 
the  unhappy  art  of  making  Christianity  a  prop  to  the  lowest 
parts  of  their  nature,  and  a  comfort  to  them  in  their  licen- 
tiousness and  their  envy.  Strictly,  what  is  wanting  here  is 
life,  and  life  is  to  be  awakened.  The  work  which  seemed  to 
be  done,  has  to  be  begun  again  ;  and  it  can  have  no  begin- 

*  "  There  is  not  much  difference  between  one  who  believes  in  a 
bad  manner  and  an  infidel." — TransL 


262  FORMALISTS    AND   LEGALISTS. 

ning  but  in  repentance.  The  orthodox  man  must  retravel 
with  his  heart  and  his  conscience  all  the  road  that  he  has 
gone  over  with  his  understanding  and  his  imagination,  and 
he  must  believe  in  one  manner  what  he  has  for  a  long  time 
been  believing  in  another  manner.  This  dead  orthodoxy  has 
two  shades,  which  produce  their  colors  under  two  characters. 
There  are  orthodox  formalists,  who  must  be  taught  to  wor- 
ship in  spirit  and  in  truth  (John,  iv.,  12)  ;  and  there  are  or- 
thodox legalists,  who  attach  themselves  to  the  letter  of  the 
evangelical  precepts,  and  let  their  spirit  escape  from  them. 
As  to  these  last,  however,  we  must  avoid  a  hasty  judgment, 
since  these  are  slaves  of  the  law  who  are  nowise  pharisees, 
that  is  to  say,  nowise  filled  with  a  sense  of  merit  and  self- 
righteousness.  We  must  consider  whether,  in  the  servility 
and  anxiety  of  their  obedience,  they  are  not  still  of  the  num- 
ber of  those  whom  the  Gospel  has  at  the  same  time  charac- 
terized and  blessed,  in  the  following  declarations  :  "  Then 
Jesus  beholding  him,  loved  him,  aud  said  to  him,  One  thing 
thou  lackest :  go  thy  way,  sell  whatsoever  thou  hast  and  give 
to  the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven :  And 
come  take  up  the  cross  and  follow  me"  (Mark,  x.,  21) ;  "  And 
the  sciibe  said  to  him,  Well,  Master,  thou  hast  said  the  truth ; 
for  there  is  one  God,  and  there  is  none  other  but  he.  And 
to  love  him  with  all  the  heart,  and  with  all  the  understand- 
ing, and  with  all  the  soul,  and  with  all  the  strength,  and  to 
love  his  neighbor  as  himself,  is  more  than  all  whole  burnt 
offerings  and  sacrifices.  And  when  Jesus  saw  that  he  an- 
swered discreetly,  he  said  to  him,  Thou  art  not  far  from  the 
kingdom  of  God."  In  persons  of  the  class  to  which  these 
two  belonged,  there  is  the  foundation  or  the  germ  of  a  true 
faith.* 

*  Was  not  this  foundation  or  this  germ  that  "  one  thing"  which 
the  first  of  these  two  "  lacked  ?"  What  meant  his  going  away  "  griev 
ed,"  verse  22 ;  and  the  observations  which  Jesus  made  to  his  disci- 
ples, after  he  had  gone,  verses  23,  25  ] — Transl. 


CHRISTIANS    BY    ANTICIPATION.  263 

There  are  souls  in  a  singular  state,  to  which  we  have  given 
too  little  thought.     They  are  those  which  have  anticipated, 
I  was  going  to  say  taken  on  credit,  the  grace  of  the  Gospel ; 
or  who  have  appropriated  the  promises  before  having  felt  all 
that  grief,  that  disgust,  that  fear,  that  species  of  death  which 
naturally  belong  to  conviction  of  sin.     They  believe,  they 
bless,  they  confess,  they  profess  intelligently  and  sincerely,  all 
that  is  essential  to  Christian  character,  but  may  want,  I  will 
not  say  the  joy,  which  is  not  the  habitual  disposition  of  every 
true  Christian,  but  the  peace,  the  love,  and,  in  a  word,  the 
life  of  the  Christian.    We  must  not  confound  them  with  those 
we  call  orthodox  ;  they  have  not  their  security  ;  they  are  at 
the  same  time  in  a  worse  and  in  a  better  state  ;  they  have 
not  fulfilled  all  righteousness,  but  they  know  that  they  have 
not.     This  state,  though  singular,  is  no  less  common ;  and 
though  it  is  difficult  to  disentangle  it,  since  he  who  is  in  it 
can  scarcely  give  any  account  of  it,  a  minister  whose  experi- 
ence and  study  of  his  own  interior  have  rendered  him  search- 
ing can  readily  discern  it.    To  apply  the  remedy  is  more  diffi- 
cult.    The  degrees,  the  movements  of  the  spiritual  life  have 
been  inverted.     This  Christian  is  one  by  anticipation,  and, 
so  to  speak,  by  hypothesis.     He  is  used  to  the  profession  and 
the  outward  joy  of  the  Christianity  of  the  intellect  or  imag- 
ination.     His  mouth  has  been  before  his  heart  in  saying, 
Lord,  Lord  !    He  is  familiar  with  the  words,  with  the  forms, 
with  the  thoughts  of  Christianity,  without  having-  his  soul 
in  them,  and  consequently  in  a  way  rather  to  be  without  a 
taste  for  them  than  to  be  in  union  with  them.     To  have  a 
taste  of  life,  we  must  first  taste  death ;  but  if  we  may  as- 
cend naturally  from  death  to  life,  we  can  not  re-descend  also 
from,  life  to  death,  and  we  can  not  at  once  pass  at  will  through 
all  the  phases  of  a  sorrowful  novitiate.     This  difficulty  is  one 
of  the  greatest  we  have  to  encounter  in  the  spiritual  career, 
and  it  may  put  to  the  proof  the  patience  and  the  prudence 
of  a  pastor.     One  sign  by  which  these  persons  may  be  rec- 


264  SKEPTICS. 

ognized  is  the  want  of  progress  and  movement  in  the  spir- 
itual life.  When  the  pastor  visits  them,  he  may  find  them 
well  disposed,  ready  to  confess  their  sins,  their  insufficiency, 
their  need  of  redemption,  and  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but 
at  each  succeeding  visit  their  language  will  be  the  same  ; 
variety  is  wanting,  because  the  reality  is  wanting.  If  he  is 
called  to  treat  a  malady  of  this  kind,  he  ought,  on  one  hand, 
to  see  that  the  soul,  of  which  we  speak,  takes  account  of  its 
own  state  ;  and,  on  the  other,  to  take  care  that  he  does  not 
renounce  what  he  has,  because  of  the  manner  in  which  he 
obtained  it.  He  should  not  refrain  from  speaking  to  him  of 
grace,  or  withhold  the  promises  which  he  has  accepted,  and 
which  we  do  well  always  to  accept.  He  must  not  change 
at  all  the  conditions  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  and  withdraw 
from,  this  soul  the  privileges  which  belong  to  it ;  but  he 
should  guard  it  against  hypocrisy,  against  the  usual  evidences 
which  both  to  itself  and  others  exaggerate  the  advantage  of 
its  state  ;  he  must  then  exhort  it  to  a  silent  and  interior  act- 
ivity, to  the  severe  study  and  application  of  the  law,  and  to 
whatever  disciplines  and  mortifies  the  soul,  as  well  as  to  all 
works  which,  while  they  imply  charity,  develop  it  without 
danger  of  inflating  the  heart ;  in  a  word,  silently  to  imitate 
Jesus  Christ.  But  the  shades  of  this  state  are  exceedingly 
various  ;  each  of  them 'at  once  requires  and  indicates  partic- 
ular measures  ;  the  important  point  is  (and  it  is  what  he  had 
specially  in  view)  precisely  to  distinguish  and  estimate  each 
of  them. 

VI.  We  may  form  another  class  out  of  skeptics  who  are 
neither  indifferent  nor  troubled,  neither  unbelieving  nor  be- 
lieving, but  who,  through  an  infirmity  or  an  evil  disposi- 
tion, can  be  settled  in  no  point.  There  are  minds  naturally 
skeptical  which  are  forever  considering,  and  never  come  to 
any  conclusion.  The  pastor  can  hardly  hope  to  be  a  reformer 
of  them  ;  but,  after  trying  as  much  as  possible  to  throw  argu- 
ments in  one  of  the  scales,  or,  rather,  before  even  trying,  he 


THE    INDIFFERENT.  265 

should  strongly  endeavor  to  make  them  much  more  serious, 
who,  without  being  of  the  same  class  with  the  indifferent, 
are  perhaps  far  from  giving  to  religious  questions  all  the  in- 
terest they  deserve.  In  order  to  make  a  man  of  this  character 
serious  and  capable  of  decision,  let  him  be  filled  with  a  sense 
of  the  infinite.  The  most  wavering  skeptic  does  not  doubt 
that  he  has  a  soul ;  and  if  we  can  succeed  in  giving  him  a 
sense  of  the  reality  and  the  great  value  of  his  soul,  we  have 
put  him  at  the  true  point  of  view  as  to  questions  of  this  kind, 
and  we  have  in  some  sort  turned  his  face  to  the  east. 

There  are  sincere  and  unhappy  minds  who,  impressed  by 
the  spirit  of  truth  and  touched  by  the  Gospel,  believe  in  their 
state  of  sin,  abjure  all  self-righteousness,  desiring  to  be  clothed 
only  in  that  of  God,  which  they  would  be  prepared  to  receive 
if  they  believed  it  were  offered  to  them,  and  yet  find  them- 
selves detained  from  entering  at  the  gate,  as  by  a  chain  which 
seems  to  be  stretched  before  them  by  their  education,  their  first 
impressions,  too  much  or  too  little  knowledge,  I  know  not  what 
— a  skeptical  temperament,  which  shows  itself  in  them,  even 
in  things  the  most  foreign  from  religion.  It  is  well  when  we 
meet  with  such  as  these,  to  remind  them  that  "  faith,"  accord- 
ing to  the  expression  of  an  enlightened  author,  "  realizes  itself 
in  the  will ;  that  faith  is  nothing  else  than  willingness  to  ac- 
cept a  pardon  from  God,  and  to  renounce  the  pursuit  of  all 
other  means  of  salvation ;  that  doubts  which  remain  in  the 
mind  do  not  change  it ;  that  God  has  not  made  our  salvation 
to  depend  on  the  vacillations  of  our  feeble  understanding ; 
that  it  is  not  the  understanding  which  consents  to  accept  of 
grace  ;  that  it  is  not  the  imagination  which  is  moved  by  it ; 
that  it  is  the  will,  the  only  faculty  always  free,  though  feeble, 
which  receives  pardon,  turns  itself  to  God,  and  may  even  cry, 
'  Lord,  I  believe  ;  help  thou  mine  unbelief.'  " 

VII.  The  indifferent  are  a  numerous  class,  inferior  not 
only  to  the  orthodox,  but  to  unbelievers  themselves,  inasmuch 
as  these  latter  are  unbelievers  in  a  positive  mariner.  Their 

M 


266  UNBELIEVERS. 

opinions,  however,  or  rather  their  want  of  opinions,  give  them 
logically  an  intermediate  position.* 

These  are,  in  general,  worldly  persons,  dissipated  men  or 
men  of  business,  who  have  not  leisure  either  to  be  orthodox  or 
to  be  unbelievers.  There  are  occasions  of  reaching  them  in 
the  actual  state  of  things.  They  are  riot  without  relations  to 
the  Church,  in  the  bosom  of  which  they  are  still  retained  by 
habit  or  decency.  They  meet  the  pastor  in  social  intercourse 
at  the  houses  of  others,  or  in  civil  affairs,  or  in  solemn  circum- 
stances. They  have  affections,  domestic  pleasures  and  sor- 
rows ;  they  are  men  :  on  the  side  of  humanity  they  may  be 
reached  ;  all  their  natural  affections  have  an  affinity  for  relig- 
ion, without  which,  also,  none  of  them  have  complete  exercise. 
All  these  fundamental  relations  call  and  invite  to  a  higher  one. 

When  we  have  obtained  the  ear  of  the  indifferent,  we  must 
destroy  their  security,  and  make  them  see  that  their  position 
is  not  indifferent.  We  must  not  hesitate  to  arouse  fear  in 
them ;  in  the  majority  of  cases,  it  is  impossible  to  connect 
the  idea  of  God,  in  the  mind  of  an  indifferent  person,  with 
any  other  sentiment  than  fear ;  but,  without  neglecting  to  use 
this  means,  if  we  may  give  vibration  to  other  chords,  we 
should  make  them  vibrate. 

VIII.  There  are  many  unbelievers  that  we  have  full  right 
to  approach  as  such.  And  doubtless  we  can  scarcely  engage 
with  these  without  a  preliminary  step,  a  conversation,  which, 
from  the  circumstances,  will  necessarily  have  the  interrogatory 
form.  But  infidelity  has  practical  maxims  as  well  as  forms 
of  doctrine  ;  and  the  first,  in  default  of  the  second,  rnay  open 
for  us  a  door  to  religious  discussion ;  and  then  infidelity  is 
sometimes  unwilling  openly  to  declare  itself;  it  more  fre- 
quently appears  in  oblique  forms  ;  allusion  or  irony  contents 
it.  We  must  not  start  with  the  idea  that  every  attack,  di- 
rect or  indirect,,  should  lead  to  a  discussion.  Much  rather 
should  we  avoid  discussion  in  the  presence  of  company,  if  it 
*  See  a  discourse  by  M.  VINET  on  Religious  Indifference,  etc. — Edit. 


UNBELIEVERS.  267 

be  not  directly  provoked.  We  must  absolutely  decline  il 
when  the  attack  is  only  a  sarcasm  or  an  abuse.  As  far  as 
possible,  we  must  change  the  discussion  into  an  appeal  to 
conscience  and  edifying  conversation. 

It  can  not  be  reasonably  required  of  the  pastor  to  engage 
in  formal  conflict  on  the  stage  of  science  with  professed  men 
of  learning  who  draw  their  weapons  against  religion  from  their 
special  pursuits.  A  clergy  of  such  a  stamp  (so  M.  Vincent* 
insists)  is  an  impossibility.  Men  of  a  particular  class  should; 
be  met  by  men  of  a  corresponding  class.  Religion  has  more 
than  one  class  of  ministers,  and  more  than  one  kind  of  proofs. 

Infidelity,  even  with  the  most  ignorant,  piques  itself  on  an 
aggressive  character ;  that  is  to  say,  on  believing  something  in 
opposition  to  the  beliefs  which  religion  proposes.  Each  has 
his  system,  which  is  often  nothing  more  than  a  mass  of  gratui- 
tous and  incoherent  assertions — a  collection  of  pithy  phrases, 
stolen,  without  understanding  them,  from  conversations  and 
books.  There  is  no  point  of  doctrine  so  abstract  or  subtile  that 
it  does  not  produce  itself  under  some  trivial  and  puerile  form 
in  the  language  of  these  bold  spirits  of  low  degree.  Contempt 
is  never  seasonable,  never  useful ;  but  we  must  not  give  these 
ambitious  proverbs  of  ignorant  infidelity  honor  which  they 
do  not  deserve,  and  engage  in  discussions  which,  though  they 
may  have  a  limit  and  a  result  with  persons  of  a  cultivated 
mind,  have  often  neither  result  nor  limit  with  narrow  and 
ignorant  minds.  If,  nevertheless,  it  is  useful  to  convince 
them  that  they  have  not  so  stately  a  system  as  they  imagine, 
it  is  yet  more  useful,  either  in  the  sequel  or  at  the  beginning, 
to  transfer  them  to  another  stage,  namely,  that  of  conscience 
and  experience — to  awaken  in  them  the  wants  which  they 
have  proudly  put  to  sleep,  and  to  show  them  in  all  their 
beauty  the  work  and  character  of  God,  as  revealed  by  the 
Gospel,  and  the  privileges  of  a  Christian  as  attested  by  a 
truly  Christian  life. 

*  Melanges  de  Religion  et  de  Theologie. 


268  RATIONALISTS STOICS. 

IX.  We  have  more  to  do  with  rationalism,  which  accepts 
the  sacred  documents,  than  with  infidelity,  which  discards 
them.     We  refer  not  only  to  learned  rationalism,  with  which 
a  simple  pastor  can  not  always  contend  as  a  formal  polemic, 
but  to  superficial  and  second-hand  rationalism,  which  seeks 
to  blunt  the  edge  of  that  evangelical  truth  by  which  it  is 
wounded.     We  venture  little  in  assuming  that  this  ration- 
alism has  for  its  ordinary  source  a  repugnance  of  heart,  and 
that  it  is  in  the  rationalist's  conscience  that  the  weapons,  in 
contending  with  him,  are  to  be  sought.     Without,  therefore, 
omitting  arguments  of  another  kind,  furnished  by  science, 
and  without  seeming  to  shrink  from  the  combat,  we  must 
make  great  use  of  internal  evidence,  and  call  conscience  to 
bear  witness.*     Let  us  not  forget  how  strong  the  Scripture 
is,  and  that  it  is  sufficient  in  itself:  The  more  we  use  the 
Scripture  in  explaining  the  Scripture,  the  more  shall  we  be 
struck  with  the  excellence  of  this  method.     We  can  not  too 
earnestly  remind   ministers   that  the  word  of  God    should 
abound  in  them,  so  that,  having  learned  it  by  heart  and  by 
the  heart,  the  principal  passages  of  the  sacred  books  will  re- 
cur to  them   easily  and  promptly  whenever  they  shall  be 
needed.     This  knowledge  should  be  not  of  isolated  parts,  but 
of  parts  combined  or  forming  a  whole  ;    and  the  sense  of 
each  verse  should  be  presented  as  penetrated  with  the  sense 
and  the  savor  of  all  the  principal  passages  that  relate  to  the 
same  subject.     Such  a  knowledge  of  the  Bible  (talis  et  tan- 
to)  can  not  be  too  strongly  recommended  to  all  ministers  of 
the  Gospel  (or  stewards  of  the  word  of  God). 

X.  Out  of  the  pale  of  Christian  belief  there  are  Stoics, 
more  or  less  religious,  whose  religion  is  strictly  that  of  duty, 
even  when  they  seemingly  and  sincerely  desire  to  make  God 
the  object  of  duty.     This  class  of  men  deserves  more  atten- 

*  We  may  properly  refer  here  to  some  works  more  or  less  popular 
on  the  evidences  of  Christianity  :  Cellerier,  Bogue,  Erskine,  Whately, 
Jennings,  Paley,  and  Chalmers. 


STOICS.  269 

tion,  and  should  be  proposed,  if  not  as  a  model,  at  least  as  an 
instructive  example,  to  those  Christians  who  have,  perhaps, 
too  easily  and  too  quickly  received  grace  before  they  had  well 
felt  all  the  weight  of  the  law.  These  Stoics  are  in  a  great 
error,  in  which  they  keep  themselves  by  regarding  too  con- 
stantly the  abuse  which  is  made  of  Christian  liberty.  But  if 
the  first  service  we  should  render  to  them  is  to  show  them, 
by  our  example,  that  Christian  morality  is  not  lax,  this  serv- 
ice is  not  the  only  one.  We  must  explain  to  them,  as  we 
have  opportunity,  the  infinite  character  of  Christian  morali- 
ty, the  awful  disproportion  between  the  law  regarded  in  the 
Christian  point  of  view,  which  is  eternal  principle,  and  the 
capacity  of  man.  We  must,  finally,  give  them  to  taste,  in  the 
midst  of  their  hard  labor,  the  solace  which  is  to  be  found  in 
love,  which  alone  can  impart  the  joy  of  fulfilling  the  law, 
and  which  is  only  diffused  through  the  heart  by  the  spirit 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  the  assurance  of  having  been  the 
object  of  his  love.  It  is  manifest  that  I  do  not  confound 
these  Stoics,  these  zealots  of  duty,  with  those  vulgar  moral- 
ists who  submit  themselves  not  to  the,  but  to  their  morality, 
and  who  only  accept  the  law  when  they  have  brought  it  to 
the  measure  of  their  carnal  and  worldly  interests. 

Two  Duties  of  a  Pastor  toward  the  Members  of  his  Flock 
considered  as  Sinners,  and  subject  to  the  Precepts  of  the 
Moral  Law :  Reprehension  and  Direction. 

Reprehension  is  a  duty  of  the  pastor.  It  is  involved  in 
every  spontaneous  performance  of  duty  in  the  care  of  souls  : 
It  is,  moreover,  imposed  upon  pastors  in  the  Gospel.  Repre- 
hension is  difficult  at  all  times  and  with  all  persons  ;  it  is  yet 
more  difficult  in  the  actual  state  of  our  flocks.  To  be  sensi- 
ble of  this,  we  need  only  compare  this  state  with  that  of  the 
primitive  Church,  or  any  other  in  which  its  essential  charac- 
teristics are  reproduced.  This  duty,  in  a  homogeneous  and 
closely  united  community,  approaches  to  that  of  paternal  cor- 


270  REPREHENSION. 

rection,  and  may  have  respect  either  to  tendencies  or  to  neg- 
ative facts.  In  almost  all  associations  for  worship  of  the 
present  day,  it  would  be  a  real  inquisition  if  it  should  go  be- 
yond notorious  public  facts  ;  and  it  would  be  so,  in  every  case, 
if  it  extended  beyond  positive  facts. 

Absolute  non-attendance  on  public  worship  is  a  negative 
fact :  May  we  call  those  to  account  who  are  to  be  reproached 
with  it  ?  How  and  under  what  authority  may  we  approach 
them  ?  Do  we  owe  them  a  duty,  or  do  we  not  ? 

A  man  who  is  not  of  our  parish,  in  the  sense  in  which  all 
his  acts  witness  that  he  is  out  of  the  pale  of  the  Church,  has 
no  claim  on  our  reprehension,  and  the  discipline  of  this  soul 
does  not  properly  enter  into  our  pastoral  obligations,  if  we 
only  have  respect  to  our  official  or  conventional  position. 
But  if  the  pastor  be  also  a  missionary  in  spirit,  or  if,  apart 
from  the  pastor,  there  is  no  missionary,  who  will  dispute  his 
right  to  show  compassion,  and  even  to  extend  aid,  beyond  the 
sphere  of  his  pastoral  obligations  ?  Sin  is  a  misfortune — a 
crime  is  a  disaster  :  Would  it  be  less  natural  to  go  to  the  as- 
sistance of  a  man  thus  grievously  afflicted  than  of  one  whose 
house  has  been  destroyed  by  an  incendiary  ? 

Charity  and  humility,  these  two  inseparable  virtues — in- 
separable because  essential  to  one  another,  give  to  reprehen- 
sion, appropriateness,  proportion,  true  force.* 

St.  Paul  (1  Tim.,  v.,  1-5)  has  said,  or,  at  least,  intimated 
every  thing  essential  to  reprehension  as  adapted  to  different 
ages  and  sexes  :  By  analogy  we  may  discern  how  it  should 
be  modified  by  other  distinctions. 

Constituted  as  our  churches  are,  it  is  very  evident  that 
public  reprehension  can  have  no  place  in  them  ;  and  it  is 
doubtful  whether,  even  under  any  form  of  ecclesiastical  gov- 
ernment, f  it  would  be  expedient  or  proper. 

*  "  II  ne  faut  pas  casser  les  vitres, 
Mais  il  faut  bien  les  nettoyer." 
— See  BENOEL,  Pensees,  27.  t  See  part  iv.,  chap,  i.,  Discipline. 


DIRECTION.  271 

Direction. — If  we  are  called  to  give  a  soul  judicious  ad- 
vice, or  to  direct  it  in  its  way,  without  departing  from  or  con- 
tradicting the  principles  of  Protestant  Christianity  : 

Let  us  beware  of  parceling  out  morality — always  referring 
particular  rules  to  general  principles  :  Let  us  preserve  the 
mean  between  that  ultra-methodic  spirit  which  would  regu- 
late every  thing  beforehand,  and  tends  gradually  to  legal  bond- 
age and  self-righteous  pride,  and  that  vague  spirituality  which 
feeds  on  feeling,  and  will  hear  nothing  either  of  caution  or 
means.  Let  us  not  repel  the  idea  of  an  art  or  method  of 
living  well,  but  let  us  not  make  it  too  minute  or  prescribe 
the  same  method  to  all.  Bossuet  has  said  that  "  love  knows 
no  order,  and  can  not  adjust  itself  to  method  ;  that  confusion 
is  its  order  ;  that  distraction  can  not  come  from  that  source." 
But  I  see  nothing  inconsistent  with  love  in  the  care  with 
which  one  seeks  the  best  means  of  showing  his  love  to  the 
Lord  (Eph.,  v.,  10),  and  the  best  means  of  cherishing  that 
love.  Our  weakness  obliges  us  to  observe  order,  and  does 
not  allow  in  us  an  absolute  contempt  of  method.  In  our  di- 
rections, we  ought  not  to  restrict  ourselves  either  to  the  in- 
ternal life  or  the  external  life. 

We  must  have  regard  to  the  principle  of  liberty  and  re- 
sponsibility, and  avoid  taking  the  place  of  conscience  in  any 
one ;  for  there  will  not  be  wanting  those  who  would  resign 
theirs  into  our  hands. 

If,  to  refer  to  a  different  matter,  men  must  not  be  borne 
on  shoulders  so  as  to  deprive  them  of  the  use  of  their  limbs 
and  their  locomotive  inclination,  no  more  should  we  exact 
too  much  from  them  in  a  short  time.  To  condense  these 
two  rules  into  two  words,  let  us  not  direct  too  much,  nor  urge 
too  much.  We  must  teach  men  to  wait,  but,  at  the  same 
time,  to  be  active  ;  not  to  make  those  who  are  confided  to  our 
care  impatient  or  despondent,  but  rather  to  be  constantly  as- 
sisting them. 

We  must  not  encourage — on  the  contrary,  we  must  repress 


GENERAL    COUNSELS. 

the  curiosity,  the  vain  words,  the  religious  talkativeness  of 
those  (souls)  who  are  "  ever  learning,  and  never  able  to  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth." — 2  Tim.,  iii.,  7.  Discourse 
in  their  case  becomes  as  a  vent  through  which  the  steam  that 
should  move  the  engine  makes  its  escape. 

General  Counsels. — We  have  enumerated  the  different 
states,  both  as  to  doctrine  and  conduct,  in  which  the  mem- 
bers of  our  flock  may  be  found ;  now  we  will  lay  aside  this 
distinction,  and,  taking  all  the  classes  we  have  spoken  of 
together,  give  summary  directions  in  relation  to  the  care  of 
souls  in  general. 

Maintain  always,  and  with  all  persons,  a  frank  and  direct 
bearing. 

Rely  readily,  and  as  far  as  possible,  on  the  good  faith  of 
others. 

Regard  ideas  more  than  words,  and  sentiments  more  than 
ideas.  Sentiment,  of  affection,  is  the  true  moral  reality.  How 
many  heresies  of  thought  correct  themselves  in  the  heart. 
And,  in  return,  how  much  orthodoxy  is  in  the  heart  heresy. 
Men  refuse  us  the  word — they  concede  to  us  the  thing ;  or, 
again,  they  refuse  us  the  thing  in  granting  us  the  word. 

When  you  recognize  in  an  adversary  a  caviling  spirit,  and 
perceive  that  you  have  to  do  with  a  fabricator  of  difficulties, 
decline  a  contest  in  which  there  is  no  seriousness,  and  "  an- 
swer not  a  fool  according  to  his  folly." — Prov.,  xxvi.,  4. 

Beware  of  considering  yourself  as  personally  offended  by 
opposition,  and  by  what  is  said,  however  unjustly,  against 
the  truths  which  you  preach. 

Appear  not  to  regard  as  so  much  blasphemy  all  rash  or  in- 
considerate assertions,  whether  relating  to  doctrine  or  morals. 

Persevere  without  harassing. 

Expect  not  that  arguments  will  have  an  identical  and  ab- 
solute influence  on  all  minds.  We  do  not  always  know  why 
an  argument  which  has  no  power  on  one  should  prove  effi- 
cacious on  another ;  or  why  an  individual  who  at  one  time 


GENERAL    COUNSELS.  273 

received  no  impression  from  the  word,  should  at  another 
time  be  deeply  impressed  by  it.*  This  is  God's  secret,  and, 
after  all  our  attentions,  all  our  measures,  the  final  result  is 
left  in  his  hands.  All  our  hope  is  from  him  ;  to  him  let  all 
be  ascribed.  Attend  more  to  the  dispositions  with  which 
you  acquit  yourselves  of  your  work,  than  the  skill  with  which 
you  used  your  talents. 

The  first  of  lights,  of  powers,  of  preservatives,  of  defenses, 
is  charity.  The  spirit  of  the  government  of  souls  and  of  the 
whole  pastoral  office  lies  in  the  sentiment  which  these  words 
of  the  Master  so  profoundly  express  :  "  Ye  will  not  come  to 
me  that  ye  might  have  Life." 

Add  to  your  instructions  the  weight  of  your  example,  well 
knowing  that  the  true  mode  of  communicating  moral  truth 
is  contagion  ;  that  it  is  only  from  life  that  life  can  proceed  ; 
and  that,  in  fact,  the  decisive  arguments  for  or  against  Chris- 
tianity are  Christians. 

Unite,  mix  prayer  with  all  your  efforts,  all  your  proceed- 
ings, either  to  ask  counsel  of  God,  or  to  commend  souls  to 
him,  or  to  keep  yourself  at  the  true  point  of  view,  and  in  the 
true  understanding  of  your  work. 

In  short,  such  is  the  solicitude,  such  the  constantly-reap- 
pearing cares  which  the  ministry  draws  in  its  train,  that  we 
must,  as  did  the  Jews  who  rebuilt  the  Temple,  hold  a  sword 
in  one  hand  while  we  build  with  the  other.  "  Besides  those 
things  that  are  without,"  said  St.  Paul,  "  that  which  cometh 

*  "  It  must  be  acknowledged,"  says  Leibnitz,  in  a  letter  to  Madame 
de  Brinon,  "  that  the  human  heart  has  many  windings,  and  that  per- 
suasions are  according  to  tastes.  We  ourselves  are  not  always  in 
the  same  state  of  mind,  and  that  which  strikes  us  at  one  time  does 
not  touch  us  at  another.  These  are  what  I  call  inexplicable  reasons. 
There  is  something  in  them  which  is  beyond  our  understanding.  It 
often  happens  that  the  best  proofs  in  the  world  do  not  move  us,  and 
that  what  does  move  us  is  properly  no  proof." — (Euvres  completes  de 
BOSSUET,  Paris  et  Besan9on,  1828,  tome  xxxv.,  p.  132,  Lettre  I.,  Sur 
le  Projet  de  Reunion. 

M  2 


274  EXTERNAL    STATE. 

upon  me  daily,  the  care  of  all  the  Churches.  Who  is  weak, 
and  I  am  not  weak  ?  who  is  offended,  and  I  burn  not  ?" — 2 
Cor.,  xi.,  28,  29.  "  Wherefore,  also,  we  pray  always  for 
you,  that  our  God  would  count  you  worthy  of  this  calling, 
and  fulfill  all  the  good  pleasure  of  his  goodness,  and  the  work 
of  faith  with  power."— 2  Thess.,  i.,  11. 

§  3.  Extei-nal  State. 

The  internal  state  is  always  modified  by  the  external,  and 
this  by  that ;  and  this  combination,  forming,  as  it  does,  the 
real  and  total  state  of  the  individual,  ought  to  be  carefully 
appreciated  ;  one  of  its  elements  separated  from  another  has 
no  complete  signification  ;  but  these  combinations,  which  are 
infinitely  various,  can  not  be  foreseen  or  provided  for  ;  we  are 
obliged  to  study  the  external  states  independently  of  the  in- 
ternal, and  reciprocally. 

As  to  external  states,  they  are  naturally  of  two  opposite 
kinds,  happy  or  unhappy ;  but  pastoral  prudence,  it  is  obvi- 
ous, occupies  itself  almost  exclusively  with  the  second.  There 
are  exceptional  and  sudden  felicities  which  resemble  catas- 
trophes, and  may  be  so  regarded.  Every  event  which  ex- 
cites in  the  human  heart  a  lively  feeling  of  joy,  may  furnish 
the  pastor,  while  expressing  congratulations,  with  an  oppor- 
tunity for  admonition.  And  when  he  comes  not  to  sadden  a 
natural  joy,  but  to  invite  it  to  seriousness,  he  has,  for  the 
most  part,  a  chance  of  being  well  received  ;  there  are,  how- 
ever, cases  of  a  kind  the  opposite  of  those,  which  make  the 
most  direct  appeal  to  his  sympathy. 

A  pastor  should  see,  as  far  as  possible,  the  afflicted  of  ev- 
ery class  ;  but  there  are  many  cases  in  which  he  can  not  eas- 
ily gain  access  to  them.  In  conspicuous  misfortunes,  what- 
ever they  may  be,  he  may  and  should  be  present ;  fraternal 
affection,  shown  by  the  pastor  in  cases  of  this  kind,  is  the 
chief  office  of  his  ministry,  and  may,  if  it  be  accompanied 


, 

THE    SICK.  275 

with  all  the  respect  which  is  due  to  great  misfortunes,  gain 
him  the  confidence  of  individuals  and  families.  But  the 
most  frequent  and  favorable  occasion  is  that  of  severe  sick- 
ness. 

1.  The  Sick. — Care  for  the  sick  is  the  most  sacred  of  the 
pastor's  duties,  the  touchstone  of  his  vocation  for  himself  and 
others  ;  and  we  may  say  that  the  manner  in  which  this  duty 
is  understood  and  discharged  measures  the  Christian  life  and 
the  Christian  spirit  of  each  religious  epoch. 

Pastoral  visits  to  the  sick  are  not  only  useful  to  them,  but 
to  those  who  are  about  them,  and  who  by  this  circumstance 
are  made  more  accessible  to  religious  instruction.  They  are 
useful  to  the  pastor  himself,  who  has  no  better  opportunity 
of  acquainting  himself  with  mankind,  with  life,  and  with  his 
own  ministry.  Sickness  places  a  man  in  a  situation  in  which 
we  have  more  hold  upon  him.  A  sick  man  is  man  in  a  state 
the  most  natural  and  the  most  true.* 

The  success  or  the  zeal  only  of  the  pastor,  in  this  part  of 
his  ministry,  is  one  of  the  most  appropriate  means  of  his  be- 
coming popular.  Every  one  is  sensible  of  the  merit  of  this 
work,  even  without  appreciating  sufficiently  its  entire  object 
and  results. 

Were  it  only  from  the  repulsiveness  inspired  by  the  view 
of  sorrow  and  of  death,  the  pastor  doubtless  would  find  it 
necessary  to  overcome  many  distastes  and  many  fears.  The 
world,  as  much  as  it  can,  contrives  to  forget  that  we  suffer 
and  die.  He  who  seeks  to  forget  this  was  not  made  to  be  a 
pastor. 

As  to  danger,  it  is  said  that  "  the  good  Shepherd  gives  his 
life  for  the  sheep"  (John,  x.,  11),  which  teaches  us  that  the 
ministry  is  not  a  profession,  but  a  virtual  martyrdom,  and 
that  the  soldier  who  voluntarily  exposes  his  life  every  day  on 
the  field  of  battle  for  the  sake  of  glory  or  promotion,  differs 

*  BRIDGES  :  The  Christian  Ministry,  p.  78  ;  and  MASSILLON  :  Du  Soin 
que  les  Cures  doivent  a/coir  pour  leurs  Malades. 


270  THE    SICK. 

from  the  minister,  the  true  soldier  of  the  Gospel,  only  in  this, 
that  the  latter  not  only  exposes  his  life,  but  gives  it. 

The  apostles  di4  not  understand  this  matter  differently 
from  their  Master,  and  we  can  not  understand  it  differently 
from  the  apostles.     With  St.  Paul,  we  must  be  prepared  to 
say,  "  I  will  very  gladly  spend  and  be  spent  for  you." — 2  Cor. 
xii.,  15.     "  I  now  rejoice  in  my  sufferings  for  you." — Col.,  i. 
24.     "  I  count  not  my  life  dear  unto  me,  that  I  may  finish 
my  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  I  have  received 
of  the  Lord  Jesus." — Acts,  xx.,  24.     He  to  whom  his  life  is 
dear  is  hardly  a  Christian  ;  how  can  he  be  a  pastor  ? 

The  celibacy  of  the  Catholic  ministry,  all  other  things  be- 
ing equal,  cuts  some  of  the  chords  which  attach  a  man  to  life. 
But  are  there  none  but  unmarried  men  who  are  called  to  ex- 
pose and  give  their  life  ?  And  can  the  marriage  of  the  pas- 
tor remove  any  of  the  essential  conditions  of  the  pastorate  ? 

The  danger  of  attending  on  the  sick  in  cases  of  epidemics 
or  contagions  is  generally  in  inverse  proportion  to  courage 
and  devotedness.  Danger  will  flee,  if  you  do  not. 

Must  we  visit  the  sick  when  we  know  that  they  are  well 
prepared  for  death  ?  These  also  have  need  of  us  ;  probably 
they  desire  us,  and  if  they  have  no  need  of  us,  we  have  need 
of  them. 

We  must  be  careful  to  avoid  going  too  late,  and  for  that 
end  keep  ourselves  informed  whether  there  are  any  sick,  by 
means  of  confidential  friends,  which  every  pastor  ought  to 
have.  Even  those  sick  persons  must  be  visited  whose  con- 
dition gives  no  cause  for  serious  concern.  We  shall  find  a 
great  advantage  from  having  accustomed  the  people  to  re- 
ceive visits  from  us  when  they  were  in  good  health  ;  the  first 
visit  of  a  pastor,  where  this  has  been  neglected,  may  have  a 
somewhat  sinister  aspect. 

Should  the  pastor  go  without  being  sent  for  ?  Authors  an- 
swer differently.* 

*  See  HUFFELL  :  Wesen  und  Beruf,  &c.,  t.  ii.,  p.  318,  troisieme  edit. 


THE    SICK.  277 

We  should  say  no,  if  the  members  of  the  flock  made  it  a 
positive  and  constant  duty  to  obey  the  precept  of  St.  James, 
v.,  14.  As  it  is,  however,  if  the  pastor  should  wait  to  be  sent 
for,  he  would  run  the  risk  of  not  visiting  a  single  sick  person. 
We  must  desire  to  be  called,  we  must  in  some  way  contrive 
to  be ;  but  called  or  not  called,  desired  or  not,  we  must  go. 
There  is  a  way  of  presenting  one's  self,  and  even  of  insisting  on 
a  reception,  without  suggesting  the  idea  of  those  doleful  men 
who  thrust  themselves  upon  the  dying  as  upon  a  prey.  And, 
at  any  rate,  whatever  prejudice  we  may  have  to  encounter, 
how  can  we  forbear  insisting,  when  we  know  in  some  meas- 
ure how  important  are  seasons  of  sickness  to  the  life  of  the 
soul,  and  that  the  most  active  resistance  and  hardened  in- 
difference often  conceal  the  germ  of  a  new  life  and  of  sal- 
vation, not  to  be  discovered  except  by  the  zeal  of  a  pastor, 
who  hopes  against  hope  ?  The  first  visit,  we  should  remem- 
ber, is  the  most  difficult,  and  often  the  only  difficult  one.  We 
should  know  how  to  be  importunate,  yet  always  with  gentle- 
ness. We  should  not  force  an  entrance  at  once,  but  return 
again  and  again,  until  our  affectionate  patience  prevails,  and 
the  door  opens  itself  to  us.  Let  us  not  be  sustained  and  an- 
imated by  a  desire  to  discharge  our  responsibility,  a  narrow 
and  fruitless  motive  truly ;  love  alone  has  no  limits,  and  is 
never  weary. 

The  pastor  should  not  neglect  to  learn  from  the  physician 
the  sick  person's  bodily  condition,  and  from  his  relations  and 
friends  his  moral  and  religious  state.*  As  to  this  second 
point,  however,  let  not  the  pastor  receive  every  thing  as  fact, 
independently  of  the  observations  he  himself  may  have  occa- 
sion to  make.  We  are  often  ill-informed,  and  it  might  be 
better  for  us  to  be  without  any  information. 

According  to  our  idea  of  the  case  which  presents  itself,  it 
is  well  to  reflect  on  the  point  of  view  in  which  we  should  re- 
gard it,  and  on  the  course  we  should  follow ;  but  a  too  rni- 
*  See  BRIDGES  :   The  Christian  Ministry,  p.  410. 


278  THE    SICK. 

nute  preparation  is  likely  to  be  injurious,  as  in  all  cases  of  the 
same  kind  that  we  may  meet  with. 

Faith  and  hope  are  the  soul  of  every  pastoral  work  ;  but 
those  dispositions  which  have  God  for  their  object  have  noth- 
ing in  common  with  the  illusion  of  feeble  minds  and  lively 
imaginations.  Before  attempting  this  difficult  and  important 
task,  we  may  think  we  shall  exert  great  influence,  or  witness 
striking  things  :  especially  may  we  count  on  a  singular  sin- 
cerity on  the  part  of  a  man  who  sees  himself  on  the  border 
of  eternity — for  we  may  suppose  that  one  can  not  dissemble 
who  has  but  a  moment  to  live  ;  but  in  all  this  we  are  mis- 
taken. "We  also  imagine  that  the  tragic  solemnity  of  death- 
scenes  will  always  so  affect  us  as  to  sustain  us  at  the  height 
of  our  function :  another  mistake.  Much  sooner  than  we 
would  think,  this  function  ends  in  discharging  itself  with  in- 
conceivable tranquillity,  and  even  with  a  wandering  mind. 
Nothing  avails  but  truth.  Let  us  obtain  a  complete  idea  of 
these  difficulties  and  these  dangers ;  and  as  we  every  day 
put  off  our  armor,  let  us  put  it  on  every  day.  Endeavor  to 
be  alone  with  the  sick.  It  is  very  difficult,  very  uncommon, 
for  a  sick  person  to  open  himself  perfectly  in  the  presence  of 
others,  even  if  they  are  his  most  intimate  acquaintances.* 
Always  begin  with  manifestations  of  affection.  Take  time 
and  pains  to  show  the  design  of  God  in  sickness ;  represent 
it  as  an  extraordinary  Sabbath  ;  assert  the  grace  of  God  to 
us  in  preserving  to  us  in  sickness  the  use  of  our  faculties ; 
show  this  period  in  life  to  be  of  great  value  and  moment. 
Let  the  pastor  place  himself  and  place  the  sick  man  in  a  true 
point  of  view,  as  regards  his  mission,  and  remove  from  him 
both  the  feeling  and  thought  that  an  intrinsical  and  a  mag- 
ical virtue  attaches  to  the  visit  of  a  pastor  :  From  ourselves, 
from  each  one  of  us,  will  our  soul  be  required  ;  and  no  one 
can  either  pray,  or  repent,  or  be  converted,  or  love  God  in 
our  place. 

*  HDFFBLL  :  Weten  und  Beruf,  &c.,  t.  ii.,  p.  318,  troisieme  edit. 


THE    SICK.  279 

If,  shortly  after  these  preliminaries,  the  sick  person  would 
open  himself,  a  zealous  and  intelligent  man  will  have  no  dif- 
ficulty in  preparing  the  way.  But,  in  beginning,  he  must  not 
be  too  urgent.  We  should  first  accustom  the  sick  to  see  us 
and  hear  us.  With  a  lively  solicitude,  which  seeks  no  con- 
cealment, let  us  neither  give  trouble  nor  feel  troubled.  In 
every  sense  our  strength  is  "quietly  to  wait  for  the  salvation 
of  the  Lord." — Lam.,  iii.,  26. 

If  the  sick  person  keeps  every  thing  to  himself,  or,  what 
comes  to  the  same,  if  we  obtain  from  him  only  a  complaisant 
assent,  let  us  endeavor  to  open  his  heart  by  prayer,  which,  at 
the  bed  of  the  sick,  is  preaching  par  excellence,  and  in  which 
we  may  say  every  thing.  Nothing  can  give  us  a  better  idea 
of  what  prayer  is,  and  what  it  can.  do,  than  the  admirable 
prayers  of  Pascal*  in  asking  God  to  enable  him  to  make  a 
good  use  of  sickness. 

We  may  add  to  prayer  the  reading  of  these  passages  of  the 
Bible,  to  which  nothing  has  equal  power  :  The  song  of  Hez- 
ekiah  (Isaiah,  xxxviii.)  ;  many  of  the  Psalms  of  supplication 
and  thanksgiving  ;  the  recital  of  some  of  the  cures  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  certain  verses  of  the  beautiful  fifth  chapter  of  the 
second  epistle  to  the  Corinthians  :  But  we  may  also  cite  less 
special  passages  :  those  words  which  raise  our  views  to  the 
dawn  of  an  endless  day,  and  mark  eternity  as  containing  the 
true  good  of  man  and  the  true  end  of  the  soul. 

Let  the  knowledge  which  we  can  obtain  respecting  the 
sick,  from  himself  and  by  other  means,  also  direct  us  in  our 
prayers  and  in  the  choice  of  our  readings,  and  let  us  perse- 
vere in  this  course.  Formal  interrogation  is  scarcely  possi- 
ble, promises  little  good,  shuts  the  heart  rather  than  opens  it. 

It  may  be  impossible,  however,  to  pursue  this  course  after 

a  certain  period  of  effort  and  attention,  when  we  have  to  do 

with  a  man  obstinately  blind,  hardened,  or  impenitent ;  or 

only  if  we  have  reason  to  be  greatly  pained  at  the  disposi- 

*  PASCAL  :  Pensees,  Part  II.,  Article  XIX. 


280  THE    SICK. 

tions  shown  by  the  sick  man.  I  do  not  think  that  his  silence 
should  have  this  effect  upon  us  ;  for  silence,  even  the  most 
obstinate,  proves  nothing.  After  having  used  all  gentle  and 
insinuating  methods,  we  must  sometimes  frankly  demand  a 
hearing. 

The  true  Christian  disposition  is  a  calmness  which  is  born 
of  trouble.  There  is  no  legitimate  calmness  which  trouble 
has  not  preceded.  It  is  hence  ordinarily  not  simple  calmness, 
but  joy,  more  or  less  sensible — a  sweet  resulting  from  bitter- 
ness ;  in  all  cases  an  humble  joy  mixed  with  a  profound  sense 
of  unworthiness.  It  is  a  joy  mingled  with  trembling  and 
love.  With  persons  thus  exercised,  we  have  but  to  employ 
what  may  augment  compunction  in  joy,  or  joy  in  compunc- 
tion ;  not  to  abate  either  the  one  or  the  other,  but  to  temper 
the  one  with  the  other :  The  general  state  is  not  to  be  changed. 

There  is  a  Christianity  which  makes  salvation  to  depend 
on  the  mere  assurance  of  salvation;  so  that  one  is  saved 
purely  and  simply  because  he  believes  himself  to  be.  "Weigh 
well  our  words,  as  we  ourselves  have  weighed  them.  They 
imply  no  condemnation  of  the  assurance  of  salvation  ;  they 
by  no  means  deny  its  legitimacy ;  they  leave  to  this  estate 
its  beauty,  its  truth,  its  claim  as  an  object  of  our  desires  and 
our  prayers  ;  much  more,  they  do  not  forbid  our  regarding  the 
assurance  of  salvation  as  the  complement,  the  coronation,  the 
perfection  of  faith.  But  the  assurance  of  salvation,  considered 
in  its  principle,  is  the  Spirit  of  God  himself"  bearing  witness 
with  our  spirit  that  we  are  the  children  of  God." — Rom., 
viii.,  16.  No  other  witness  is  sufficient  and  available  ;  and 
to  replace  this  by  a  simple  argument,  by  a  syllogism,  is  to  en- 
croach upon  its  rights.  In  other  terms,  this  witness  is  from 
within ;  it  is  as  intimate  as  irresistible,  as  the  consciousness 
of  life  :  This  perfection  of  faith  is  of  the  same  nature  with 
faith,  which  is  the  substance  itself,  or  the  appropriation  of 
evangelical  blessings  ;  in  its  commencement  as  in  its  con- 
summation, a  mysterious  grace,  of  which  a  purely  intellect- 


FALSE  ASSURANCE  OF  SALVATION.        281 

ual  faith  and  a  purely  logical  assurance  of  salvation  is  but 
the  vain  counterfeit.  Conscience,  however  carefully  interro- 
gated, can  not  make  one  such  assurance  the  pledge  and  es- 
sence of  salvation.  We  are  not  saved  because  we  feel  sure 
of  being  saved,  but  we  feel  sure  of  being  saved  because  we 
are  saved.  We  must  then  invert  the  terms  ;  logic  itself  and 
all  analogy  demand  this ;  there  is  no  sphere  in  which  the 
reasoning  we  oppose  can  be  admitted  by  any  person  of  good 
sense.  Why  should  reasoning,  which  is  bad  every  where  else, 
be  found  good  here,  and  here  only  ? 

This  doctrine,  which  is  thought  to  be  the  only  means  of 
giving  all  to  God  and  giving  nothing  to  man,  has,  on  the 
contrary,  the  effect  of  attaching  salvation  to  a  work,  and,  I 
may  say,  a  servile  work,  since,  in  the  rigor  of  the  doctrine 
which  is  advanced,  no  particle  of  affection,  no  truly  religious 
element,  can  enter  into  this  work.  This  doctrine,  which,  for 
the  most  part,  is  preached  by  pious  men,  finds  easy  access  not 
only  into  humble  hearts  that  confound  it  with  the  implicit 
submission  of  faith,  but  in  souls  arid  and  mercenary,  which 
it  does  not  disturb  and  does  not  trouble  in  their  interior  hab- 
its ;  and  as  it  forbids  man  to  look  to  his  feelings  even  less  than 
to  his  works,  in  order  "  to  know  that  he  is  of  the  truth,  and  to 
assure  his  heart  before  God"  (1  John,  iii.,  19),  it  very  soon 
annuls,  without  denying,  every  part  of  the  Gospel  which  re- 
late? to  the  government  of  the  heart  and  the  reformation  of 
the  life.  I  speak  of  some  souls — not  of  all ;  for  a  good  many 
of  those  who  derive  their  assurance  from  the  simple  and 
naked  acceptance  of  salvation  derive  it  unknowingly  from 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  who  by  his  presence  and  agency 
within  them  attests  to.  them  with  irresistible  force  that  Christ 
abides  in  them,  and  that  they  abide  in  him.  It  is  painful  to 
have  to  prepare  for  death  the  partisans  of  this  false  and 
dangerous  assurance  of  salvation,  who  take  away  not  faith 
precisely,  but  every  thing  which  forms  the  true  substance 
and  true  end  of  faith  :  It  is  painful  to  have  to  make  them 


282  FALSE    SECURITY. 

descend  from  the  mountain  into  the  valley,  from  peace  into 
trouble  ;  and  to  begin,  in  their  short  and  disturbed  moments 
of  sickness,  at  the  very  gates  of  eternity,  the  entire  education 
of  a  soul  contaminated  and  proud  of  its  error.  It  is  the  more 
painful,  as  we  may  little  hope  to  see  hatched  under  the  burn- 
ing fire  of  reprehension  and  alarm  one  of  those  conversions 
of  heart  which  ordinarily  are  wrought  so  gently,  and  in  cir- 
cumstances so  different  from  that  in  which  the  dying  find 
themselves.  May  we,  however,  hesitate  ?  And  when  there 
is  but  one  chance  against  ten  thousand  of  restoring  this  man 
to  an  estate  of  saving  faith,  may  we  be  permitted  to  neglect 
this  chance  ?  And  may  we  not  venture  to  disturb  this  soul, 
and  even  to  disturb  it  profoundly,  in  order  to  give  it  true  tran- 
quillity instead  of  false  ? 

There  is  a  tranquillity  of  another  kind  proceeding  from 
the  persuasion  of  self-righteousness  in  the  sick  man.  And 
what  righteousness  ?  Often  it  is  scarcely  more  than  com- 
mon honesty.  Should  we  expect  to  find  it  in  persons  in- 
structed in  the  Christianity  which  they  profess  ?  Nothing 
is  more  strange,  and  nothing  more  common.  It  is  no  less 
strange  to  see  persons  who  call  themselves  Christians,  and 
who  think  they  are,  though  less  persuaded  of  their  own  right- 
eousness than  the  former,  taking  refuge  in  a  vague  idea  of 
the  mercy  of  God,  who,  they  think,  is  too  good,  and  is  too 
much  occupied  with  other  matters,  to  observe  them  so  nar- 
rowly. You  will  encounter  philosophers  who  are  accustom- 
ed to  thoughts  of  death,  and  who  are  not  afraid  to  die,  and 
whose  minds,  fortified  by  sophisms  more  or  less  learned,  seem 
impenetrable  to  the  most  pungent  arguments.  With  others, 
finally,  in  whom  an  entirely  material  activity  and  an  exclu- 
sively vulgar  way  of  thinking  has  destroyed  the  moral  life, 
or  whom  vice  has  hardened  or  imbruted,  we  can  find,  in  a 
manner,  no  place  for  a  soul. 

There  are  a  thousand  occasions  where  circumstances  would 
seem  to  dissuade  us  from  making  any  attempt,  as  too  evidently 


THE    TROUBLED    SICK.  283 

useless  ;  but  there  are  a  thousand  facts  which  prove  that  we 
can  not  define  the  limit  where  resources  absolutely  fail,  and 
where  all  access  is  closed  against  the  preacher  of  the  Gospel. 
We  ought,  then,  to  be  urgent,  and  persevere  to  the  end  ;  at 
the  end,  very  often,  we  are  waited  for,  and  are  accepted. 

God,  we  know,  can  give  to  a  moment  the  value  of  an  en- 
tire life,  as  was  seen  in  the  case  of  the  thief  who  was  con- 
verted on  the  cross.  And  although  every  thing  obliges  us 
to  think  such  cases  very  rare,  and  that,  in  general,  we  should 
place  little  dependence  on  death-bed  conversions,  mere  possi- 
bility, in  view  of  extreme  peril,  makes  it  our  sacred  duty  to 
labor  for  the  conversion  of  the  sick  with  all  our  resources  of 
heart  and  mind.  Spera,  quia  unus  ;  time,  quia  solus.* 

Besides,  this  impassibility  or  this  security  is  very  often  af- 
fected ;  it  is  merely  outward,  and  can  not  long  resist  us.  Let 
us  not  be  deceived  by  it. 

Let  us  not  more  be  deceived  by  that  facility  with  which 
we  sometimes  meet.  There  are  persons  whom  we  would 
persuade  to  be  less  hasty  in  yielding  to  us ;  we  should  think 
them  more  serious  if  they  offered  us  more  resistance ;  and 
the  docility  shown  us  through  deference,  through  prejudice, 
is  a  different  thing  from  the  reflecting  and  voluntary  docility 
of  a  conscience  which  yields  to  truth  itself. 

We  should  expect  to  meet  with  many  troubled  souls. 
Among  them  there  are  those  (and  this,  perhaps,  is  the  most 
difficult  case)  who,  having  until  now  believed  with  a  faith 
purely  intellectual,  thought  that  they-  were  believers,  and 
now  all  at  once  discover  that  they  were  not ;  who  see  noth- 
ing but  a  great  void,  where  until  now  the  objects  of  their 
pretended  faith  were  floating  like  phantoms  before  them ; 
who,  having  tampered  with  all  the  truths,  and  employed  all 
the  words  of  religion,  have  no  longer  any  impression  from 
them  at  the  moment  when  it  is  most  important  to  be  able 
to  make  use  of  them ;  in  a  word,  who  at  the  last  hour,  in- 

*  "  Hope,  because  there  is  one ;  fear,  because  there  is  but  one." 


284  THE    TROUBLED    SICK. 

stead  of  a  living  faith,  find  only  a  dead  system.  They  are 
in  a  condition  worse  than  it  would  have  heen  if  they  had 
never  known  the  truth.  There  are  others  of  these  with 
whom  remorse  is  stronger  than  the  promises  of  grace.  Others 
there  are,  who,  without  being  absolutely  destitute  of  faith, 
and  without  being  afraid  of  the  judgment  of  God,  have  at 
death  the  fear  of  death  itself — a  fear  for  the  most  part  phys- 
ical, greater  in  some  men  than  in  others,  and  by  which  be- 
lievers even  are  sometimes  beset.  We  shall  find,  in  general, 
more  natural  ease  in  dying  among  persons  of  small  culture 
and  a  laborious  life,  than  with  learned  men,  thinkers,  and 
the  most  highly  cultivated  people.  The  poor  man  passes  his 
life  but  to  die  ;  his  poor  imagination  sees  nothing  in  death 
but  nakedness.  Finally,  there  are  those  whom  the  con- 
sciousness of  some  neglected  reparation,  which  it  was  diffi- 
cult, or  perhaps  impossible,  to  make,  deeply  agitates,  or  from 
whom  some  temporal  engagement,  some  domestic  care,  ban- 
ishes calmness  and  freedom  of  mind. 

Trouble  at  its  last  stage  is  despair,  a  state  into  which  two 
very  different  classes  of  persons  may  fall ;  men  who  have  re- 
pelled or  neglected  the  means  of  salvation,  the  more  they 
were  offered  to  them  ;  and  men  who,  having  done  the  entire 
contrary,  and,  as  it  appears  to  them,  every  thing  necessary  to 
assure  them  of  peace,  see  the  whole  frame-work  of  their  faith 
crumbling  as  a  fantastic  edifice,  and  they  ask  themselves, 
whether  all  that  life  which  they  have  found  in  religion,  so 
real,  so  intimate,  so  serious,  has  been  any  thing  more  than  a 
dream,  and  whether  Christianity,  which  occupies  so  large  a 
place  in  history,  has  any  reality  except  in  history.  There 
are  those  also,  who,  without  losing  in  any  degree  their  con- 
viction, find  themselves  punished  by  a  sudden  and  deep  de- 
spair, for  the  spiritual  pride  to  which  they  had  subjected 
themselves.  This  mysterious  experience — despair — has  more 
than  once  been  suffered  by  the  most  humble  and  most  pious 
faith ;  but  in  this  case  not  prolonged,  we  think,  to  the  last 


SPECIAL    DIRECTIONS.  285 

moment.  Such  persons  die  in  comfort,  and  the  light  which 
shines  on  their  last  hour  removes  the  scandal  which  their 
unexpected  darkness  may  have  given  to  the  witnesses  of  their 
death.  Without  pretending  to  penetrate  the  mystery  of  this 
dispensation,  we  may  observe,  that  the  work  of  every  man's 
conversion  consists  of  the  same  elements,  the  proportion  of 
which  does  not  vary,  hut  which  may  he  differently  distribu- 
ted. In  the  final  reckoning,  the  addition  will  not  fail  to  be 
correct,  and  the  total  to  be  rendered.  What  was  not  in  its 
place  at  first  is  found  afterward  ;  bitterness  with  many  comes 
after  joy ;  the  order  is  inverted,  but  we  must  "  fulfill  all  right- 
eousness ;"  and  he  who  may  have  too  readily  accepted  the 
promises,  must  pay,  sooner  or  later,  the  same  price  which  was 
assessed  to  those  who  could  not  appropriate  pardon  to  them- 
selves until  they  had  tasted  condemnation.  It  is  necessary 
that  they  should  pass  three  days  in  the  tomb,  and  descend  to 
hell.  This  is  always  the  price  of  the  true  resurrection  ;  the 
date  of  payment  only  varies. 

The  duty  of  disturbing  a  false  peace  is  not  the  most  diffi- 
cult, but  it  is  the  most  formidable ;  and  we  must  be  either 
armed  bya  severe  fanaticism,  or  by  great  faith  and  charity  ; 
moment  by  moment  must  we  be  guarded  against  our  own 
weakness,  in  order  to  fulfill  faithfully  a  mission  so  painful ; 
painful  indeed,  since  the  success  itself  is  formidable,  and  we 
must  equally  fear  not  producing  disturbance  and  producing 
it.  It  may  be  useful  to  confute  error  as  far  as  we  can,  but 
we  shall  be  pre-eminently  favored  if  God  enables  us  to  pre- 
sent to  the  soul  the  Gospel  as  a  whole,  with  all  its  elements 
at  once,  so  that  it  may  not  appear  in  its  alarming  aspect 
without  at  the  same  time  assuming  its  consolatory  character, 
nor  have  this  latter  aspect  without  at  the  same  time  retain- 
ing the  former.  The  necessity  of  pardon,  and  the  assurance 
of  pardon  ;  the  necessity  of  repentance,  and  the  blessings  con- 
nected with  repentance  ;  salvation,  entire,  gratuitous,  irrevo- 
cable, but  the  renunciation  of  all  other  means  of  safety  ;  prayer 


286  SPECIAL    DIRECTIONS. 

opening  heaven  to  the  sinner,  but  to  the  sinner  who  prays  as 
a  sinner  ;  the  certainty  of  aid  to  every  one  who  perseveres 
in  asking  it ;  these  are  the  ideas  which,  intercombined  al- 
ways, are  able  to  move  without  irritating,  and  with  which, 
when  no  one  of  them  is  isolated  from  that  which  corresponds 
to  it,  we  may  be  frank,  inflexible,  and  still  affecting.  Some- 
times, perhaps,  we  must  use  a  holy  violence,  and  snatch,  as 
from  the  midst  of  the  burning,  a  brand  which  seems  about 
to  be  consumed — roughness  being  now  the  only  form  of 
charity  ;  but  the  true  pastor  seldom  finds  himself  placed  in 
this  stern  necessity,  and  will  doubtless  exhaust  all  other 
means  before  he  has  recourse  to  this.  And  in  every  case  the 
last  moments  are  no  time  for  summoning  and  threatening ; 
a  dying  man,  if  he  can  hear  us,  should  hear  only  words  full 
of  unction,  prayers  to  God  full  of  melting  tenderness,  suppli- 
cations to  himself  to  be  reconciled  to  God,  supplications  to 
God  to  be  graciously  reconciled  to  his  creature,  who  is  about 
to  pass  away ;  expressions,  finally,  of  a  fervent  desire  and 
a  charitable  hope.  If  this  soul  is  softened,  if  it  weeps,  if  it 
prays,  be  content,  and  besides  this  blessing,  do  not  ask  or  ex- 
pect joy  ;  the  soul  that  empties  itself,  that  makes  itself  noth- 
ing, that  renounces  itself,  that  cries  to  God,  the  soul  that  ad- 
dresses itself  to  him  as  to  an  offended  father,  but  still  as  to  a 
father,  may  not  indeed,  on  this  side  of  the  tomb,  taste  the  joy 
of  salvation  ;  but  as  for  you,  be  assured  it  will  come,  and  re- 
joice over  this  weeping  soul,  for  it  shall  be  comforted. 

We  pass  now  to  the  case  in  which  we  find  the  soul  troub- 
led: 

We  must  not  expect  that  this  soul  will  always  confess  it- 
self to  be  troubled,  or  tell  whence  its  trouble  proceeds.  We 
shall  often  be  obliged  to  induce  the  person  to  tell  us,  or  even 
ourselves  to  tell  the  sick,  who  may  very  well  experience  an 
effect  without  being  able  to  detect  the  cause.  And  often, 
when  he  may  know  the  cause  very  well,  he  can  not  make 
up  his  mind  to  declare  it.  It  is  as  important,  however,  as  it 


SPECIAL    DIRECTIONS.  287 

may  be  difficult,  to  obtain  the  knowledge  of  it ;  for  efforts 
directed  to  any  other  point  than  the  seat  of  the  disease  may 
aggravate  the  evil,  while  it  fails  of  the  end.  Happily,  the 
Gospel  suffices  for  every  thing,  because  it  corresponds  to  ev- 
ery thing  ;  and  we  can  not  present  it  as  a  whole,  and  in  the 
admirable  fusion  of  the  elements  which  characterize  it,  with- 
out applying  a  dressing  to  the  wound,  even  though  we  do  not 
-  see  it.  We  may  thus  comfort  ourselves  in  cases  in  which 
the  trouble  shows  itself  without  a  distinct  appearance  of  the 
cause  ;  but  we  must  endeavor  to  understand  the  cause,  since 
we  may  then,  without  foregoing  the  presentation  of  the  Gos- 
pel as  a  whole,  make  a  more  just,  more  direct,  more  personal 
application  of  it.  To  be  telling  how  to  adapt  a  remedy  to 
each  particular  case,  according  to  its  nature  and  its  cause,  is 
to  be  occupied  in  an  infinite  detail :  Some  authors  have  made 
the  attempt,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  the  very  special  direc- 
tions which,  at  the  outset,  deprive  eur  impressions  of  their 
liberty,  and  our  actions  of  that  character  of  spontaneity  and 
inspiration  which  they  ought  to  have,  are  more  injurious  than 
useful.  What  is  important — what,  perhaps,  is  sufficient,  is  to 
get  a  good  understanding  of  the  patient's  state,  and  of  the  na- 
ture of  his  inward  feelings  :  this  obtained,  the  rest  is  left  to 
our  evangelical  views,  our  charity,  our  tact,  and  the  Divine 
Spirit,  constrained,  if  I  may  say  so,  by  our  prayers,  to  inter- 
vene as  an  interpreter  between  the  sick  man  and  ourselves. 
The  recital  of  the  experience  of  accomplished  ministers  on 
this  field  of  sorrow  is  more  useful  than  a  catalogue  of  a  pri- 
ori prescriptions. 

As  to  the  trouble  which  a  soul  heretofore  indifferent  finds 
in  the  presence  of  death,  it  will  be  difficult  for  us  to  judge 
of  it :  it  is  the  region  of  mystery.  It  is  but  too  certain  that 
remorse  is  not  repentance,  that  alarm  is  not  conversion,  and 
that  the  fear  of  death  is  not  the  fear  of  God.  There  are,  it 
is  said,  souls  who  perceive  with  despair  that  the  principle  of 
the  spiritual  life  is  extinguished  within  them,  and  who  with 


288  GENERAL    DIRECTIONS. 

terrible  evidence  are  convinced  that  there  remains  nothing 
in  them  that  can  love  or  pray  :  Faith  comes  to  them  at  the 
last  moment,  but  it  is  the  faith  of  demons,  resplendent  with 
brightness,  but  it  is  the  brightness  of  lightning.  God  only 
can  know,  indeed,  that  this  soul  is  dead  :  Let  us  who  do  not 
know,  struggle,  pant  with  it,  fight  its  battle,  unite  with  it  in 
its  agony  ;  let  it  perceive  that  there  is  by  its  side,  in  its  last 
anguish,  a  soul  that  believes,  that  hopes,  and  that  loves  ;  that 
our  charity  is  but  a  reflection,  and  as  a  revelation  of  the  char- 
ity of  Christ ;  that  Christ,  through  us,  has  become  present  to 
it;  let  us  give  it  a  hint,  a  glimpse,  a  taste  of  the  Divine  mer- 
cy ;  let  it  be,  as  it  were,  forced  to  believe  in  it  by  seeing  the 
reflection  of  it  in  us  ;  let  us  hope  against  hope  ;  let  us  wres- 
tle with  God  to  the  last  moment ;  let  the  voice  of  our  prayer, 
let  the  echo  of  the  words  of  Christ  resound  in  the  dying  man's 
ear,  even  in  his  dreams — we  do  not  know  what  may  be  pass- 
ing in  that  interior  world  into  which  our  views  do  not  pene- 
trate, nor  by  what  mystery  eternity  may  hang  on  one  min- 
ute, and  salvation  on  one  sigh.  We  do  not  know  what  may 
avail,  what  one  ejaculation  of  a  soul  toward  God  may  em- 
brace at  the  last  bound  of  earthly  existence.  Then  let  us 
not  cease  ;  let  us  pray  aloud  with  the  dying  man ;  let  us 
pray  for  him  with  a  low  voice ;  let  us  commit,  without  ceas- 
ing, the  soul  to  its  Creator ;  let  us  be  a  priest,  when  we  can 
no  longer  be  a  preacher.  Let  the  office  of  intercession,  the 
most  efficacious  of  all,  precede,  accompany,  follow  all  others. 

•-:'"        '•         '    •  .:'••:':'•.&*% 'IK 

Without  distinguishing  cases  any  further,  let  us  now  add 

some  general  directions  regarding  the  spiritual  treatment  of 
the  sick. 

The  first  is  to  do  every  thing  we  can,  in  order  to  preclude 
or  discard  the  idea  that  our  ministry  may  carry  a  man  to 
heaven  independently  of  his  own  will. 

The  second  is  not  to  require  a  long  work,  not  to  make  a 
long  discourse,  not  to  engage  in  intricate  reasonings,  to  ad- 


GENERAL    DIRECTIONS.  289 

dress  the  conscience  directly,  with  frankness,  cordiality,  and 
authority.* 

A  third  is  to  infuse  ourselves,  without  our  personality,  into 
our  exhortations  and  instructions  ;  to  put  ourselves  on  a  level 
with  those  we  seek  to  console  ;  to  show  them  in  ourselves  a 
sinner  assisting  another  sinner ;  to  relate  to  them,  as  far  as 
we  can,  the  history  of  our  soul ;  and,  in  a  word,  to  reason 
with  them,  not  from  an  elevation,  but  on  the  same  simple 
footing  with  themselves  ;  we  shall  lose  nothing  of  our  au- 
thority by  so  doing. 

We  can  not  too  earnestly  recommend  patience  and  indul- 
gence :  We  must  not  roughly  tread  on  even  the  greatest  of 
their  errors  and  illusions.  We  may  seem  surprised,  grieved, 
but  never  angry  :  Let  us  not  forget  that  if,  in  preaching,  as 
a  whole,  appeals  to  fear,  in  men  who  are  in  health,  and  have 
no  thought  of  death  as  near  to  them,  may  have  a  salutary 
effect,  and  ought  to  be  employed  ;  if,  even  on  the  bed  of  death, 
we  must  awaken  in  indifferent  souls  a  serious  concern  for 
their  eternity,  still,  that  alarm  is  sterile,  and  we  can  not  de- 
pend upon  the  manifestations  which  it  may  produce. t  Let 
us  never  forget  that  characteristically  we  are  the  heralds  of 
good  news ;  that  these  good  news  are  sufficient  for  all,  be- 
cause they  embrace  all ;  that  they  chasten  while  they  con- 
sole ;  that  they  are,  so  to  speak,  a  tonic  as  well  as  a  tran- 
quilizer  to  the  soul ;  lastly,  that  the  charge  of  the  pastor  in 
respect  to  the  sick,  as  toward  all,  is  comprised  in  these  words 
of  the  prophet :  "  Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye  my  people  ;  speak 
ye  comfortably  to  Jerusalem." — Isaiah,  xl.,  1,  2. 

Expect  much  from  prayer  ;  I  mean  not  only  from  its  pow- 
er with  God,  but  from  its  immediate  effect  on  the  sick.  We 
may  say  every  thing  in  prayer  ;  under  the  form  of  prayer  we 
may  make  every  thing  acceptable  ;  with  it  we  may  make 
hearts  the  most  firmly  closed  open  themselves  to  us  ;  there  is 
a  true  charm  in  prayer,  and  this  charm  has  its  effect  also 
*  Praktische  Bemerkvngen,  p.  79  t  Page  83. 

N 


290  GENERAL    DIRECTIONS. 

upon  us,  whom  it  renders  at  once  more  confident,  more  gen- 
tle, more  patient,  and  whom  it  puts  into  an  affecting  fellow- 
ship with  the  sick  man,  whoever  he  may  be,  by  making  God 
present  to  us  both. 

Let  us  not  formally  tell  the  sick  man  that  death  is  near, 
unless  we  think  it  the  last  and  only  means  of  bringing  the 
sinner  to  himself;  for  otherwise  we  may  have  much  more 
confidence  in  the  genuineness  and  solidity  of  a  work  which 
has  been  quietly  accomplished,  than  of  one  which  takes  place 
amid  trouble  caused  by  the  unexpected  view  of  death.  We 
should,  however,  be  able  to  declare  to  a  man,  not  only  as 
man,  but  as  an  individual,  all  his  iniquities,  and  all  the  dan- 
ger of  his  ways.  Where  the  sin  is  notorious,  dwell  upon  that : 
Charity,  sometimes,  is  no  longer  charity,  unless  it  assumes 
the  form  of  severity.  But,  I  repeat  it,  the  last  moment  is 
not  one  for  summoning  and  threatening  :  When  that  moment 
comes,  we  must  refer  every  thing  to  submissive  and  tender 
prayer.* 

The  communion  should  not  be  administered  to  the  sick  un- 
less they  desire  it,  and  then  we  should  take  care  that  there 
be  no  superstition  mixed  with  the  desire.  We  should  rejoice 
at  the  expression  of  a  desire,  and  should  hasten  to  satisfy  it 
when  we  are  assured  that  it  is  spiritual.!  At  this  juncture, 
however,  and  even  apart  from  the  opportunity  which  it  af- 
fords, we  must  insist  on  necessary  and  practicable  repara- 
tions. It  is  proper  that  others,  if  they  are  so  inclined,  should 
partake  of  the  communion  with  the  sick  person. 

Though  it  is  well,  at  the  beginning,  that  we  should  be  alone 
with  the  sick,  it  is  well,  on  many  accounts,  to  have  the  mem- 
bers of  the  family,  at  least  the  most  intimate  of  them,  pres- 
ent at  the  interviews  which  we  have  with  him ;  first,  to  in- 
spire them  with  confidence  in  us,  and  then  to  profit  them 
through  our  presence. 

As  much  as  possible  let  us  avoid  interfering  with  testa- 
•  KOESTER  :  Lfhrbuch  der  Pastvralicisstnschaft,  p.  134.  t  P.  134, 135 


FAMILIES    IN    AFFLICTION.  291 

mentary  dispositions,  and  have  nothing  to  do  in  drawing  them 
up,  without,  however,  as  to  this,  declining  to  give  advice  to 
a  disturbed,  ill-instructed,  or  slumbering  conscience  :  Let  us 
wisely  use  our  ministry  in  securing  reparations  which  are 
important  to  the  repose  of  conscience,  and  which,  apart  from 
our  agency,  perhaps,  would  not  be  made. 

Let  us  not  neglect  the  relations  of  the  sick  man  after  his 
death,  nor  the  sick  man  during  his  convalescence.* 

The  affliction  of  a  family  has  often  been  the  means  of  in- 
troducing into  its  bosom  the  truth,  together  with  the  preach- 
er who  was  its  interpreter.  The  survivors  as  much  as  the 
dead  must  be  on  our  thoughts,  that  we  may  cultivate  the 
field  which  grief  has  sown.  We  must,  in  many  cases,  be  pre- 
pared for  a  difficult  undertaking.  There  are  idle  griefs,  as 
there  are  consolations  which  are  not  less  so.  Afflicted  per- 
sons sometimes  offer  a  kind  of  worship  to  him  whom  they  la- 
ment, and  endeavor  to  associate  us  in  their  panegyrics  and 
admiration  :  They  praise  in  our  presence  qualities  in  the  de- 
parted which  are  blamable,  or  without  moral  worth  ;  excuse 
what  is  inexcusable  ;  make  to  themselves  maxims,  a  moral- 
ity, a  religion,  according  to  the  impulses  of  their  affection, 
and  their  interest  in  the  soul  of  the  dead  :  We  shall  find  them 
improvising  heresies  for  his  sake,  or  harassing  us  with  ques- 
tions regarding  his  state,  and  soliciting  from  us  a  sentence  of 
acquittal,  even  in  cases  in  which  it  would  be  most  difficult 
to  pronounce  it,  if  this  were  ever  allowable.  Let  us  not  for- 
get that  grief  has  claims  to  our  respect ;  but  let  us  be  yet 
more  on  our  guard  against  forgetting  that  truth  has  anterior 
and  higher  claims  to  it ;  and  while  we  express  hope  where 
there  is  room  for  hope,  let  us,  when  necessary,  learn  how  to 
take  refuge  in  our  ignorance  of  the  decrees  of  God  and  of  the 
invisible  world.  We  have  no  right  to  condemn  any  one,  but 

*  BRIDGES  :  The  Christian  Ministry,  p.  424 ;  and  BDRNET  :  A  Dis- 
course of  the  Pastoral  Care. 


292  FAMILIES    IN    AFFLICTION. 

we  may  not,  on  our  own  responsibility,  decree  celestial  hap- 
piness to  any  one. 

When  grief  and  regret  alone  appear  in  that  detachment 
from  the  visible  world,  and  in  those  aspirations  toward  the 
future  world,  which  afflicted  persons  quite  often  manifest,  it 
is  important  to  correct  their  thoughts,  to  give  another  direc- 
tion to  their  regards,  and  to  prevent  them,  if  possible,  from 
making  their  grief  a  religion,  and  its  object  a  god  ;  in  a  word, 
we  should  teach  them  to  fill  with  God  himself  the  heaven 
which  they  would  fill  with  a  creature.  Let  not  the  minister 
too  readily  mistake  for  a  conversion,  or  the  beginning  of  one, 
those  emotions  of  apparent  piety  with  which  conscience  often 
has  nothing  to  do. 

There  are  few  things  more  painful  or  more  embarrassing 
than  to  be  required  to  offer  consolation  or  condolence  to  in- 
dividuals or  families  who  have  not  evangelical  views.  What 
shall  we  say  to  them  ?  Shall  we  speak  to  them  as  they  wish  ? 
Console  them  after  the  manner  of  the  world  ?  This  we  can 
not  do.  Forsake  them  ?  This  is  still  more  impossible. 
Preach  to  them  the  Gospel  ?  Yes,  preach,  or,  rather,  an- 
nounce it  to  them.  After  having,  with  a  generous  heart, 
freely  sympathized  with  their  griefs,  listened  to  their  com- 
plaints, testified  a  sincere  interest,  searched  through  their 
misfortune,  of  whatever  kind  it  may  be,  we  must  make  it  our 
text,  arm  ourselves  with  it,  so  to  speak,  against  them,  make 
them  to  feel  the  emptiness  of  human  consolation,  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  seeking  solid  consolation  beyond  the  bounds  of  time 
and  the  world,  call  Jesus  Christ  openly  to  the  help  of  their 
misery  and  ours.  We  must  not  premeditate  too  much  what 
we  shall  say,  what  we  shall  do  on  these  occasions.  The  best 
meditation  is  their  misfortune,  the  best  preparation  much 
pity.  Let  us  go  to  them  with  tears  and  with  a  kind  of  joy, 
with  the  joy  of  a  consolation  of  which  the  secret  is  with  us  : 
Let  us  go  with  God  himself,  and  with  the  assurance  that  he 
will  be  with  us  and  with  them.  This  confidence,  this  com- 


.  "  THE    DISEASED    IN    MIND.  293 

mittal  of  all  to  God  is  the  chief  strength  and  the  chief  light 
in  all  difficult  occurrences. 


II.  The  Diseased  in  Mind. — The  cage  of  these  is  not  to  be 
confounded  with  that  of  those  troubled  souls  of  whom  we 
have  spoken  before  (page  259)  :  It  is  principally,  if  not  ex- 
clusively, a  case  of  sickness.  As,  however,  it  appears  to  be 
certain  that  moral  means  may  be  used  successfully  with  a 
moral  malady,  the  cause  of  which  is  physical,  we  think  that 
the  minister,  in  concert  with  the  physician,  may  possibly  ef- 
fect something  in  this  case.  The  influence  of  the  moral  on 
the  physical  is  as  unquestionable,  as  conceivable,  and  proba- 
bly as  powerful,  as  that  of  the  physical  on  the  moral.* 

Hence  we  should  seek  to  acquaint  ourselves  well  with  the 
idea  which  either  occasioned  or  nourishes  the  disease ;  for  it 
is  generally  improbable  that  the  evil  has  created  itself;  and 
perhaps  some  secret  principle  of  moral  evil  is  what  has  pro- 
duced and  developed  it.  Let  us  detect  this  element,  which 
it  is  not  always  easy  to  do,  since  reserve  and  dissimulation 
are  far  from  being  incompatible  with  states  which  seem  to 
exclude  the  power  of  self-control. 

We  can  not  recommend  "  answering  a  fool  according  to  his 
folly"  (Prov.,  xxvi.,  5)  ;  but  we  may  advise  against  too  rude- 
ly dashing  away  the  gloomy  imaginations  of  the  patient,  and 
we  may  rest  assured  that  formal  reasoning  with  men  in  whom 
a  fixed  idea  produces  itself  with  an  obstinate  and  fatal  cer- 
tainty will  prove  ordinarily  to  be  pains  worse  than  lost.  Ex- 
pressions of  affection,  passages  of  Scripture,  prayer  when  the 
patient  will  unite  in,  or,  at  least,  permit  it — in  short,  kindly 

*  "  Obsta  Principiis" — to  resist  at  the  outset,  in  such  cases,  is  of 
very  special  importance.  The  torrent  of  troubled  thoughts  gains  in 
force  and  in  rapidity  in  proportion  as  it  advances.  We  should  en- 
deavor by  all  means  to  airive  in  time,  to  avert  and  restrain  the 
strange  pleasure  with  which  a  diseased  mind  gives  itself  up  to  gloomy 
thoughts. 


294  THE   DISEASED    IN    MIND. 

entertaining  him  with  what  may  interest  or  recreate  him 
without  injury  to  our  principal  object — means  such  as  these 
may  be  used  with  more  or  less  success,  in  the  hope  that  God 
will  offer  some  as  yet  unknown  chance  by  which  we  may 
banish  that  fixed  idea,  which,  born  of  physical  evil,  increases 
and  prolongs  it.  The  malady  itself  sometimes  affords  weap- 
ons for  contending  with  it,  which,  in  prudent  and  discreet 
hands,  may  be  effectual. 

Sometimes  the  idea  makes  the  disease  :  Moral  evil  becomes 
physical  evil — a  disease  properly  so  called  :  Let  us  ascertain 
if  it  has  done  so.  If  it  has,  an  educated  and  enlightened  pas- 
tor has  resources  at  command,  and  he  may  expect  more  from 
the  use  of  reasoning  :  But,  without  excluding  this,  I  would 
unite  it  with,  and  subordinate  it  to,  the  use  of  the  word  of 
God,  applied  with  judgment,  and  rather  for  the  purpose  of 
consolation  than  of  proof.  Let  us  consider  that,  with  persons 
in  this  state,  especially  if  they  are  of  an  active  mind,  reason- 
ing which  does  not  convince  renders  obstinate,  confirms,  in 
some  sort,  the  patient  in  his  error,  and  increases  his  mental 
trouble.  We  must  not  run  this  risk.  When  we  meet  with 
minds  which  certain  religious  ideas  have  disturbed,  either  as 
cause  or  occasion,  we  ought  not  to  forget  that  the  soundest 
and  most  fundamental  truths  may  give  trouble  when  they 
are  suddenly  encountered,  or  when  the  state  of  the  man  whom 
they  exclusively  possess  favors  such  a  consequence.  When 
this  kind  of  mental  perturbation  is  caused  by  the  unexpected 
onset,  and,  so  to  speak,  by  the  shock  of  truth,  we  may  be  sure 
that  it  will  not  last.  In  some  cases  we  may  regard  it,  and 
so  represent  it  to  the  patient  himself,  as  an  unavoidable  crisis 
— a  transition  to  that  definitive  peace  which  ought  to  be  in- 
separable from  the  truth.  We  should  likewise  be  reminded, 
as  ministers,  that,  in  the  complete  and  faithful  dispensation 
of  the  truth,  an  economy  and  a  care  are  to  be  observed,  with- 
out which  truth  may  have  many  of  the  effects  of  error. 

We  should  be  sorry  to  think  that  to  persons  in  whom  men- 


THE    DISEASED    IN    MIND.  295 

tal  disease  has  become  a  complete  insanity,  the  spiritual  aids 
of  the  ministry  must  be  useless.  With  them,  especially,  rea- 
soning would  doubtless  be  useless,  and  even  dangerous.  But 
I  think,  with  Harms,  that  when  discussion  is  impossible,  it 
may  be  useful  to  speak.  Solitude  and  the  absence  of  inter- 
course may  irritate  the  disease  as  much  as  injudicious  contra- 
diction ;  and,  by  inducing  him  to  speak,  we  may  obtain  some 
insight  into  the  patient's  soul.  Let  us  indulge  the  hope  that, 
in  some  lucid  or  less  perturbed  moment,  we  may  introduce 
into  the  poor  wanderer's  spirit  some  peace,  perhaps  some  light, 
or  may  excite  some  favorable  emotion  which  God  may  regard. 
"  Cast  thy  bread  upon  the  waters,  and  thou  shalt  find  it." 
The  mere  names  of  the  heavenly  Father  and  the  divine 
Mediator  are  very  powerful,  and  often  have  effect  when  dis- 
course can  do  nothing.  A  certain  authority,  a  certain  dar- 
ingness  is  necessary  ;  we  should  be  conscious  of  feeling  strong : 
to  use  an  expression  of  Harms,  there  is  a  kind  of  magic  in  the 
authority  which  faith  imparts.* 

Some  cases  may  suggest  the  idea  of  possession  or  obsession 
as  the  cause,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  this  idea  should  be  re- 
pelled ;  but  under  this  impression  I  have  known  those  medi- 
cal means  to  be  neglected  which  were  clearly  demanded,  and 
which,  at  the  commencement  at  least,  should  have  been  used ; 
and  as  for  formal  exorcisms  or  conjurations,  I  think  they  are 
adapted  to  render  disturbed  persons  entirely  mad.  Prayer 
and  charity  are  the  true  conjuration. 

A  pastor  should  not  allow  himself  to  be  unacquainted  with 
the  principal  works  which  treat  of  diseases  of  the  mind.  We 
have  a  right  to  assume  that  anthropology  has  formed  a  part 
of  his  general  studies. 

III.  The  Pastor  reconciling  those  who  are  at  Variance. — 

*  "  Ein  Priester  der  nicht  magisch  wirkt  ist  gar  kein  Priester.  und 
ein  Prediger  der  nicht  magisch  wirkt  ist  nur  ein  halber  Prediger."—- 
HARMS  :  Pastoraltheologie,  tome  ii.,  p.  73. 


QUARRELS. 

"Blessed  are  the  peace-makers"  (Matt.,  v.,  9) :  their  work 
certainly  belongs  to  the  ministry  ;  which,  in  a  religious  sense, 
is  a  justice  of  the  peace — a  justice  of  the  peace,  not  arbiter, 
as  we  may  plainly  see  in  Luke,  xii.,  14  :  "Man,  who  made 
me  a  judge  or  a  divider  over  you?" 

Consistently  with  this,  we  may,  if  we  have  experience, 
tact,  and  knowledge  of  business,  propose,  when  necessary, 
measures  of  reconciliation ;  but,  for  the  most  part,  we  should 
especially  recommend  mutual  concession  and  condescension, 
the  extinction  of  pride  and  resentment,  the  exercise  of  gen- 
erous qualities  and  religious  sentiments,  and  give  ascendency 
to  that  spirit  of  sacrifice  which  is  the  chief  practical  charac- 
teristic of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  is  a  delicate  matter  to  come  in  as  a  mediator  in  domes- 
tic quarrels,  unless  we  are  invited  :*  It  is  best,  when  we  can 
do  so,  to  be  on  the  side  of  each  of  the  contending  parties. 
We  should  fear  long  narrations  by  which  each  party  kindles 
anew  and  feeds  his  hatred,  and  which  oblige  the  mediator  to 
be  a  very  involuntary  instrument  and  instigator  of  the  quar- 
rel. We  should  fear,  also,  the  proposing  of  questions  which, 
in  a  religious  and  moral  point  of  view,  are  idle,  and  which, 
on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  replying  to  them,  are  danger- 
ous—  a  difficulty  which,  when  perceived  or  manifested,  di- 
minishes so  much  the  reconciling  authority.  Still,  while  we 
should  always  avoid  taking  a  side,  we  must  not  appear  blind 
to  evidence  or  insensible  to  injustice ;  this  would  also  discredit 
us  ;  we  must  always  recommend  humility  to  him  who  in  any 
matter  stands  upon  his  rights  and  his  merits. 

In  quarrels  between  man  and  wife,  we  must  discard  as 
long  as  possible  the  idea  of  a  separation ;  never  suggest  it, 
and  yet  not  repel  it  when  the  continuance  of  a  forced  connec- 
tion would  be  only  the  occasion  of  greater  sin  and  scandal 
than  a  separation. 

There  are  confidential  communications  which  it  is  as  dan- 
*  BF.NOEL  •  Pensees,  t)  33. 


THE    POOE.  297 

gerous  and  improper  as  it  is  painful  to  receive  :  Very  seldom 
is  minute  and  detailed  information,  of  a  certain  kind  neces- 
sary to  acquaint  the  pastor  well  with  his  position.  Let  him 
show  a  repugnance,  and,  if  necessary,  let  him  positively  re- 
fuse to  hear  them,  and  people  will  be  sufficiently  admonished 
and  instructed  to  keep  them  to  themselves.  I  except  the 
case  in  which  it  is  important  to  know  every  thing,  in  order 
to  prevent  or  remedy  an  evil.  It  is,  however,  necessary  al- 
ways that  the  pastor  respect  himself;  and  charity  alone  may 
persuade  him  to  descend  into  the  impure  region  of  vice. 

IV.  T/te  Poor. — The  Sovereign  Pastor  cared  for  the  poor, 
and  has  given,  as  a  principal  characteristic  of  his  Church, 
compassion  for  the  unfortunate,  and  care  to  restore  equality 
by  charity.  The  apostles,  in  partially  devolving  the  care  of 
the  poor  on  deacons,  did  not  renounce  this  interest,  with 
which  we  every  where  see  them  engaged  ;  the  deacons, 
moreover,  are  ministers  of  religion  ;  and  thus  the  care  of  the 
poor  also  remains  a  religious  ministry.  There  are  now  no 
deacons  in  the  special  sense,  or,  rather,  every  Christian  is  a 
deacon  ;  as,  however,  nothing  is  regulated  by  this  considera- 
tion, and  probably  never  will  be,  what  for  a  time  has  been 
detached  from  the  evangelical  ministry  rightfully  returns  to 
it,  and  the  pastor  is  a  deacon. 

So  he  will  always  be  under  all  institutions,  because  his 
ministry  is  essentially  the  ministry  of  compassion,  and  this 
ministry  can  not  separate  itself  from  the  sentiment  which  is, 
in  fact,  its  foundation  :  For,  while  showing  itself  indifferent 
to  the  temporal  miseries  of  men,  it  can  not  show  itself  moved 
by  their  spiritual  miseries.  Public  sentiment  always  assigns 
this  two-fold  end  to  the  Christian  ministry. 

A  pastor  is  not  only  called  to  exercise  a  ministry  of  benefi- 
cence, but  to  propagate  and  maintain  the  spirit  of  beneficence. 
For  this  reason,  he  must  not  only  give  an  example  of  benefi- 
cence, but  he  must  promote  it,  and  form  it  in  all  his  parish- 

N2 


298 

loners  without  distinction  of  class,  and  I  will  even  say  of  for- 
tune. We  ought  to  "  bear  one  another's  burdens"  (Gal.,  vi., 
2)  ;  and  this  measure,  which  ought  to  be  the  motto  and  the 
soul  of  every  society,  should  be  exemplified  by  the  pastor  be- 
fore every  man's  door.  Great,  indeed,  will  be  his  success  if 
he  ean  make  the  rich  receive  and  obey  it ;  but  he  will  do 
yet  more  if  he  can  persuade  the  poor  that  it  concerns  them 
also,  and  that  they  have  the  means  of  obeying  it.  Associa- 
tions may  be  well,  and  even  necessary  ;  but  the  pastor  must 
be  careful  that  they  do  not  absorb  personal  activity  and  re-^ 
sponsibility  :  It  is  needful  that  "  the  poor  and  the  rich  should 
meet  together." — Prov.,  xxii.,  2. 

As  to  the  direct  care  of  the  needy,  the  pastor  ought  him- 
self to  inquire  into  the  situation  and  resources  of  each.  The 
spirit  of  detail,  the  industry  of  beneficence,  is  what  makes  it 
truly  useful ;  it  is  also  what  causes  it  to  be  respected  ;  it 
likewise  gives  the  beneficent  man  authority  with  those  whom 
he  comforts.  We  must  listen  with  patience  to  complaints 
and  narratives,  endure  a  little  ennui,  enter  into  human  na- 
ture, and  remind  ourselves  by  our  own  experience  that,  "  in 
relating  our  sorrows,  we  often  assuage  them."*  In  this 
sphere  of  activity  we  meet  with  so  many  deceptions,  so  much 
baseness,  we  see  so  much  of  human  nature  under  a  hideous 
aspect,  that  we  are  in  danger  of  losing  the  respect  which  we 
owe  it  even  in  its  abject  condition.  Let  the  pastor  put  in 
the  first  rank  of  his  cares  that  of  elevating  the  spirit  and  the 
courage  of  the  poor  ;  of  inducing  him  to  seek  his  resources  in 
himself,  of  maintaining  and  guarding  the  sentiment  of  his  dig- 
nity, of  showing  him  in  his  poverty  all  the  respect  to  which 
he  has  a  right,  or  which  he  is  able  to  appreciate. 

It  is  required  by  charity  itself,  and  even  by  regard  to  real 

necessities,  that  we  turn  away  from  necessities  which  are 

imaginary,  or  which  arise  from  indolence  and  selfishness. 

Let  us  beware  that  we  do  not  engender  poverty  by  the  very 

*  CORNEILLE:  Polyeuchte,  act  i.,  scene  8. 


P» 

THE    POOR.  299 

pains  by  which  we  seek  to  destroy  it.  Let  us  acquaint  our- 
selves with  those  inflexible  laws  which  arise  from  the  nature 
of  things  in  the  whole  of  a  population,  and  let  us  have  them 
before  our  mind  in  every  particular  case,  since  a  particular 
case  does  remind  us  of  them,  and  may  also  tend  to  make  us 
forget  them. 

Our  concern  that  no  one  should  doubt  our  personal  benefi- 
cence should  not  make  us  connive  at  an  idea  which  is  cred- 
itable in  certain  parishes,  that  every  case,  without  discrim- 
ination, is  to  be  undertaken  by  the  pastor  or  his  family.  Let 
us  know  how  to  keep  importunity  and  indelicacy  in  order. 

Let  us  not  appear  to  desire  payment  for  aid  which  we  may 
give  under  demonstrations  of  piety  ;  nor  to  induce  the  belief 
that  we  succor  the  body  only  that  we  may  have  access  to 
the  soul.  In  our  first  approaches,  let  us  be  moderate  in  our 
religious  communications.* 

The  good  which  the  pastor  himself  can  do  is  very  small 
compared  with  that  which  he  can  do  by  means  of  others. 
He  is  the  delegate  of  the  poor  to  the  rich,  and  of  the  rich  to 
the  poor.  The  first  function  is  delicate  and  difficult.  He 
must  expect  refusals,  affronts.  A  sublime  trait  (that  of  a 
pastor  who,  receiving  an  insult  from  an  impatient  rich  man, 
said  to  him,  "  See,  this  is  for  myself,  what  now  have  you  for 
my  poor  ?")  should  often  be  in  the  memory  of  pastors.  We 
should,  however,  do  wrong  not  to  consider  the  difference  of 
situations  and  antecedent  demands.  We  must  know  how  to 
withdraw  in  a  proper  manner ;  we  must  engage  the  rich  in 
the  details  of  the  case  which  we  represent  to  him ;  get  him 
to  make  the  investigation  of  this  misery  his  own  affair ;  ask 

*  Beneficence  has  become  an  art,  the  principal  rules  of  which  have 
become  popular.  On  this  subject  there  are  important  works  which 
we  must  not  omit  reading ;  as,  in  French,  the  book  on  Charity  of  M. 
DUCHATEL  ;  that  of  M.  NAVILLE  on  the  same  subject ;  Le  Visiteur  du 
Pauvres,  by  M.  DK  GERANDO  ;  in  English,  The  Civil  and  Charitable 
Economy  of  Great  Cities,  by  Dr.  CHALMERS. 


300  THE    POOR 

him  for  something  better  than  money  ;  do  not  urge  him  too 
earnestly  to  give ;  be  content  when  he  gives ;  resigned,  and 
not  out  of  humor,  when  he  does  not  give  ;  but  in  every  case 
discharge  this  mission,  with  as  much  of  liberty  as  of  modesty 
and  delicacy.  To  be  ashamed  would  be  to  renounce  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  parts  of  the  ministry,  and  to  prepare  our- 
selves for  refusals. 


SPECIAL  DECLENSION,   ETC.  301 


[CHAPTER  III. 
By  the  Translator. 

Of  ilie  Care  of  Souls  in  Times  of  special  Declension  and 
special  Interest  in  Religion. 

AFTER  much  reflection,  we  venture,  though  tremblingly, 
to  add  a  chapter  on  this  subject. 

In  this  part  of  his  work  the  author  has  not  only  transcend- 
ed his  predecessors,  but,  admirably  as  he  had  executed  the 
other  parts,  he  has,  we  think,  transcended  himself  also  :  And 
yet  there  is  here  (what  doubtless  will  be  regarded,  especially 
in  this  country,  as  an  important  omission)  no  distinct  consid- 
eration of  the  care  of  souls,  as  modified  justly  by  the  two 
specialities  in  the  state  of  the  flock  which  we  have  indica- 
ted. These  specialities,  though  perhaps  more  observable  and 
more  prominent  under  certain  modes  of  pastoral  activity,  cer- 
tain views  of  theology,  and  certain  external  circumstances, 
than  others,  have  their  ground  in  the  nature  of  man  as  at 
best  imperfectly  renewed,  the  laws  of  the  new  life  under  the 
economy  of  grace,  and  the  circumstances  of  trial  and  exposure 
in  which  churches  find  themselves  while  they  remain  in  this 
world.  They  are  not  necessary  ;  they  violate  the  ideal  of 
Christian  sanctification,  which  excludes  all  change  except 
that  of  increase  ;  but  probably  they  will  continue  until  the 
triumph  of  Christianity  is  complete,  and  the  advance  of 
Christianity  in  the  future  be  as  it  has  been  from  the  begin- 
ning, chiefly,  as  Edwards  has  said,  by  "remarkable  commu- 
nications of  the  Spirit  of  Grod  at  special  seasons  of  mercy." 
Neither  in  individuals  nor  in  masses  does  the  spiritual  life 
remain  always  in  the  same  state ;  in  both  it  is  alternately 
high  and  low,  and  the  elevations  and  depressions  are  not  un- 


302  SPECIAL    DECLENSION    AKD 

frequently  extreme  and  of  long  continuance,  and  it  would  be 
superfluous  to  prove  that  the  care  of  souls  should  vary  with 
these  variations  of  their  state.  We  can  not  but  lament  that 
our  author's  great  abilities  were  not  occupied  as  thoroughly 
with  this  subject  as  they  were  with  the  others  which  are  in- 
cluded in  this  part,  and  which  he  has  treated  with  such  un- 
paralleled success. 

There  may  be  specialities  of  other  kinds  in  the  state  of  a 
flock  as  such,  requiring  corresponding  modifications  of  pastor- 
al activity.  The  flock  may  be  suffering  severely  from  perse- 
cution, from  war,  from  pestilence,  from  famine,  from  unfa- 
vorable changes  in  trade  and  business ;  or,  on  the  contrary, 
they  may  be  in  a  state  of  great  temporal  prosperity,  with 
prospects  continually  brightening,  by  which  they  may  be 
placed  in  severer  temptation  than  any  they  might  find  them- 
selves subjected  to  by  external  affliction  of  whatever  de- 
gree or  kind.  It  is  obvious  that  in  all  such  cases  a  demand 
is  made  on  the  pastor  for  some  variations  in  the  exercise  of 
his  ministry,  in  order  to  accommodate  it  suitably  to  the  par- 
ticular circumstances  in  which  he  finds  himself:*  Much  more 
is  he  required  to  adapt  his  ministry  as  precisely  and  com- 
pletely as  possible  to  the  exigencies  of  his  flock  when  they 
are  in  either  of  the  states  first  mentioned. 

Let  us  not  think  that  a  flock  can  never  find  itself  in  the 
first  of  these  states  but  by  the  pastor's  fault.  The  principle 
that  there  is  a  constant  proportion  between  the  care  given 
to  souls  and  the  life  of  the  parish, t  is  not  to  be  taken  as  im- 
plying that  pastoral  fidelity  in  the  care  of  souls  will  infalli- 
bly and  universally  secure  in  the  parish  a  high  state  of  spir- 
itual prosperity.  The  proportion  in  respect  to  the  spirituality 
of  the  parish  as  a  whole  may  even  be  inversely  as  the  pas- 
tor's fidelity.  "  Then  began  he  to  upbraid  the  cities  wherein 
most  of  his  mighty  works  were  done,  because  they  repented 
not :  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin  !  woe  unto  thee,  Bethsaida  ! 

*  See  pages  208,  242.  t  See  page  238. 


SPECIAL    INTEREST    IN    RELIGION.  80S 

for  if  the  mighty  works  which  were  done  in.  you  had  been 
done  in  Tyre  and  Sidon,  they  would  have  repented  long  ago 
in  sackcloth  and  ashes." — Matt.,  xi.,  20,  21.  "  Now  thanks 
be  unto  God,  who  always  causeth  us  to  triumph  in  Christ, 
and  maketh  manifest  the  savor  of  his  knowledge  by  us  in 
every  place.  For  we  are  unto  God  a  sweet  savor  of  Christ, 
in  them  that  are  saved,  and  in  them  that  perish  :  To  the 
one  we  are  the  savor  of  death  unto  death  ;  and  to  the  other 
the  savor  of  life  unto  life." — 2  Cor.,  ii.,  14-16.  In  general, 
or  in  a  comprehensive  view,  the  care  of  souls,  and  the  actual 
state  of  religion  in  a  parish,  and  we  may  say  in  a  country 
or  in  the  Church  at  large,  do  very  observably  and  decidedly 
correspond  with  each  other ;  but  not  so  as  to  be  inconsistent 
with  the  directly  opposite  state  of  things  in  particular  locali- 
ties and  particular  circumstances.  The  sovereignty  of  divine 
grace  has  subjected  itself  to  no  economy,  no  laws,  by  which 
its  free  exercise  or  manifestation  is  forestalled.  A  pastor,  aa 
appears  from  the  example  of  Edwards  at  Northampton,  may 
be  rejected  by  his  parish,  on  account  of  his  inflexible  adher- 
ence to  what,  in  the  exercise  of  a  pre-eminently  spiritual  dis- 
position, and  after  much  prayer  and  reflection,  appears  to 
his  judgment  and  conscience  the  path  of  duty  and  of  wis- 
dom in  reference  to  the  mode  of  exercising  the  pastoral  care. 
It  is,  therefore,  supposable  that  a  parish  may  be  declining 
in  religious  interest  and  zeal,  while  there  is  no  room  for  the 
suspicion  that  the  cause  of  this  declension  is  to  be  found  in 
an  antecedent  one  on  the  part  of  the  pastor,  or  in  any  fault 
or  any  neglect  whatever  in  his  ministry.  Especially  is  this 
supposition  admissible  if  there  has  been  a  high  religious  ex- 
citement in  the  parish,  to  which  the  declension  has  succeed- 
ed. Such  an  excitement  as  a  permanent  state  may  have  been 
incompatible  with  the  laws  of  the  mind  ;  and  if  a  qhange  to 
a  lower  state  of  feeling  once  have  a  beginning,  it  will  natu- 
rally proceed  in  the  same  direction,  unless  some  new  influ- 
ences, some  new  mode  of  agency,  offer  it  resistance.  The  pas- 


304  DECLENSION    PROGRESSIVE. 

tor  will  not  be  able  to  prevent  declension  by  the  same  instru- 
mentality which  he  has  hitherto  used,  unless  he  use  it  with 
a  different  measure  of  force,  or  with  modifications,  with  the 
nature  of  which  he  may  not  be  able  to  acquaint  himself. 
And  it  is  possible  that  no  form  'or  manner  of  activity  on  his 
part  might  be  sufficient  to  secure  that  concurrent  action  of 
the  divine  power,  without  which  nothing  can  hinder  the  prop- 
er consequence  of  the  advancing  declension.  The  pastor, 
therefore,  may  be  tinder  the  sad  necessity  of  witnessing  in  his 
flock,  notwithstanding  the  utmost  efforts  that  he  can  make 
to  prevent  it,  a  progressive  debility  of  the  spiritual  life.  Fur- 
ther, the  despondency  which  he  must  naturally  suffer  on  this 
account  may  be  nourished  and  increased  by  adverse  means 
of  a  special  kind.  There  is  a  congeniality  between  a  state 
of  spiritual  declension  and  the  spirit  of  error.  As  the  result 
of  backsliding  in  heart,  there  may  be  misgiving  in  not  a  few 
minds  as  to  some  of  the  severe  truths  of  Christianity  ;  the 
flock,  moreover,  may  have  opportunity  to  hear  teachers  of  an- 
other Gospel;  perhaps  "of  their  own  selves,  men  may  arise 
speaking  perverse  things." — Acts,  xx.,  30.  The  spirit  of  the 
world,  too,  may  reveal  itself  among  them  in  forms  unusually 
deceptive,  and  with  peculiar  recommendations  :  Prominent 
members  of  the  flock  may  become  decidedly  worldly  in  their 
spirit  and  manner  of  life,  may  neglect  "  the  assembling  of 
themselves  together  ;"  these,  and  other  collateral  and  inci- 
dental causes,  may  favor  the  downward  tendency  of  the  re- 
ligious life,  and  the  pastor's  opposition  to  it  may  be  altogether 
unavailing,  or  even  occasion  its  more  rapid  and  flagrant  de- 
velopment. 

It  will  be  well  if  the  pastor  retain  his  true  position,  keep 
himself  at  the  pastor's  true  point  of  view,  continue  to  regard 
his  flock  in  their  present  state  with  true  pastoral  love  and 
solicitude,  such  as  the  chief  Shepherd  feels.  We  may  well 
think  so  when  we  attend  to  a  word  which  was  spoken  to  the 
prophet  Ezekiel,  "  Be  not  thou  rebellious  like  this  rebellious 


TRIAL  OF  THE  PASTOR'S  CONSTANCY.      805 

house"  (chap,  ii.,  8)  ;  and  to  a  charge  given  to  another  proph- 
et, "  Be  not  dismayed  at  their  faces,  lest  I  confound  thee  be- 
fore them." — Jer.,  i.,  17.  Spiritual  decline  is  a  contagion,  and 
if  the  pastor,  with  this  contagion  spreading  around  him,  and 
becoming  more  and  more  active,  may  secure  his  soul  against 
it,  he  must  already  have  a  vigorous  spiritual  health,  and  be 
careful  in  using  proper  means  of  sustaining  and  strengthen- 
ing it.  He  must  arm  himself  with  firmness  and  patience,  to 
avoid  becoming  discouraged  and  despondent.  There  is,  per- 
haps, no  severer  trial  of  constancy  than  that  which  a  pastor 
is  enduring  when  his  faithfulness  and  zeal  in  the  exercise  of 
the  ministry  are  not  only  fruitless,  but  as  "a  savor  of  death 
unto  death"  to  souls.  There  is  great  danger  of  his  modify- 
ing the  exercise  of  the  ministry  on  a  wrong  principle — a  prin- 
ciple which  would  vary  it,  so  as  to  make  it  rather  favor  than 
restrain  prevailing  tendencies  and  tastes.  Such  a  variation 
may  seem  to  be  strongly  recommended  by  the  fact,  that  even 
the  former  mode  of  ministration  is  unacceptable  now,  and  the 
certain  conclusion  from  this  fact,  that  the  same  mode  of  min- 
istration in  a  higher  degree,  or  a  different  mode,  tending  more 
intensely  to  the  same  results,  would  be  more  unacceptable, 
and,  of  course,  unprofitable.  The  pastor,  seeing  that  the  flock 
will  not  receive  food  of  a  certain  kind — the  kind  best  adapt- 
ed to  strengthen  and  increase  spiritual  health,  is  tempted  to 
think  himself  justifiable,  if  not  judicious,  in  providing  them 
other  kind  of  food — not  false  doctrine  or  false  morality,  but 
truth  so  softened  and  tempered  by  the  manner  of  presenting 
it,  or  so  remotely  and  indirectly  relating  to  the  actual  needs 
of  the  flock,  that  they  taste  in  it  nothing  that  is  unpleasant, 
nothing  that  seems  to  be  in  any  disagreement  with  their 
present  inclinations  and  desires.  The  pastor  who  does  not 
suffer  himself  to  be  taken  in  this  snare,  is  one  most  assuredly 
who  takes  good  heed  to  keep  himself  in  fellowship  and  com- 
munion with  his  Lord,  by  striving  for  higher  attainments  in 
the  spiritual  life,  and  especially  by  renewing  his  vocation  as  a 


306  WHAT    MEANS    TO    BE    USED? 

minister  of  the  Gospel.  It  may  be  impossible  for  him  to  re- 
main a  true  pastor  in  these  circumstances,  faithful  and  ap- 
proved of  Jesus  Christ,  and  having  this  witness  in  himself, 
"  Though  Israel  be  not  gathered,  yet  shall  I  be  glorious  in  the 
eyes  of  my  Lord,  and  my  God  shall  be  my  strength"  (Isaiah, 
xlix.,  5),  without  having  recourse  to  that  spiritual  exercise 
which  has  been  recommended  in  a  former  part  of  this  work  ; 
without  increased  solitude,  without  much  secret  prayer,  and 
fasting,  and  searching  of  heart. 

But  assuming  that  the  pastor  abides  in  the  true  spirit  of 
his  function,  that  he  and  the  chief  Shepherd  are  one  as  to  the 
dispositions  and  views  which  control  him,  and  that  he  is  still 
a  true  pastor  to  his  flock  —  discreet,  wise,  sincere,  diligent, 
faithful  in  the  exercise  of  the  ministry  among  them — what 
steps,  what  measures,  what  means  does  his  pastoral  activity 
now  embrace  ? 

Does  he  employ  direct  eflbrts  to  make  his  flock  sensible 
of  their  condition — to  apprise  them  thoroughly  that  they  are 
truly  involved  in  the  appalling  evils  of  a  state  of  allowed  and 
progressive  backsliding  ?  Doubtless,  it  is  his  duty  to  aim  at 
this  :  It  was  to  a  pastor,  as  the  representative  of  a  Church 
— a  backsliding  Church — that  this  word  was  spoken  :  "  Re- 
member, therefore,  from  whence  thou  hast  fallen,  and  repent, 
and  do  the  first  works  ;  or  else  I  will  come  unto  thee  quick- 
ly."— Rev.,  ii.,  5.  There  is  virtually  a  charge  to  every  pas- 
tor, in  these  solemn  words,  to  admonish  his  Church,  if  they 
are  backsliding  from  God,  of  their  guilt  and  their  danger  : 
But  the  matter  speaks  for  itself:  A  pastor  may  not — a  true 
pastor  can  not  contemplate  his  flock  in  a  state  of  spiritual 
decline — can  not  think  of  them  as  departing  from  God,  as 
deriving  no  advantage  from  his  ministry,  as  converting  the 
ordinances  of  grace,  and  grace  itself,  into  stumbling-blocks 
and  scandals — without  feeling  himself  ready  to  be  offered  as 
a  sacrifice,  if  this  were  the  only  means,  or  might  be  an  effect- 
ual means,  of  giving  them  a  full  conviction  of  the  evil  of  their 


DELAY    NECESSARY.  307 

state  :  a  state  from  which,  without  this  conviction,  there  is 
no  hope  of  deliverance.  They  are,  therefore,  in  some  way 
to  be  awakened,  to  be  aroused  ;  but  what  is  the  way  which 
should  be  taken  ? 

We  do  not  say  that  the  pastor  should  not  make  direct  state- 
ments ;  direct,  pungent,  strenuous  appeals  ;  earnest  and  pa- 
thetic expostulations  to  his  flock,  with  reference  to  awakening 
them  :  But  he  must  take  heed  as  to  the  time,  measure,  manner 
of  these  means,  lest  they  prove  worse  than  ineffectual :  Possi- 
bly this  flock  are  in  no  degree  prepared  yet  for  being  dealt  with 
in  this  mode  :  There  is,  we  know,  a  power  of  enchantment, 
of  infatuation,  in  a  backsliding  spirit.  The  flock  may  have 
no  self-consciousness  as  to  their  being  in  a  state  so  alarming 
as  such  mode  of  dealing  with  them  would  suppose  them  to 
be  in  :  They  may  have  the  contrary  impression  :  They  may 
think  that  it  is  better  with  them  now  than  it  was  formerly  ; 
that  while,  in  their  pastor's  view,  they  seem  to  be  "  wretched, 
and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked,"  they  judge 
themselves  to  be  in  a  state  demanding  high  felicitation,  "  rich, 
and  increased  with  goods,  and  having  need  of  nothing." — 
Rev.,iii.,  17. 

Having  which  persuasion,  they  may  regard  their  pastor's 
admonitions  and  remonstrances  with  a  very  high  degree  of 
disfavor,  and  be  tempted  to  think  him,  if  not  really  beside 
himself,  at  least  deluded  by  a  blind  zeal,  a  frenzy  of  fanat- 
icism. It  may  be  necessary  to  use  no  little  prudence,  to  be- 
stow no  little  pains  in  preparing  the  way  before  we  can  make 
effectual  application  of  this  sort  of  instrumentality  to  a  back- 
slidden flock.  Perhaps  it  may  be,  first  of  all,  necessary  that 
the  pastor  prepare  himself  specifically  for  the  task  he  has  to 
perform.  His  general  preparation  may  indicate  to  him  the 
expediency,  the  duty  of  a  particular  preparation  for  this  very 
work  of  awakening  his  flock.  A  special  anointing  of  the 
Spirit  may  be  needful  before  he  can  become  as  "  a  polished 
shaft"  in  the  hand  of  God  for  the  execution  of  this  work,  im- 


308  THE    PASTOR    SEEKING    AIDS. 

parting  to  him  peculiar  exercises  of  heart  and  mind,  peculiar 
sympathies  and  desires,  peculiar  love  and  tenderness  toward 
the  souls  of  his  flock  ;  in  short,  a  peculiar  intimacy  of  fel- 
lowship with  Christ  in  reference  to  the  work  of  saving  men. 

Now,  after  the  pastor  has  in  this  way  made  himself  ready 
for  the  work,  it  may  be  expedient  for  him  to  inquire  whether 
there  are  not  some  few  souls,  at  least,  in  his  flock,  whom  he 
may,  to  a  certain  extent,  associate  with  himself ;  who  may 
be  prepared,  or  whom  he  may  be  the  means  of  preparing,  in 
some  measure,  as  he  himself  is  prepared.  The  Spirit,  in  al- 
most every  case  of  declension,  "  reserves  to  himself"  "  a  few 
names"  at  least — a  few  souls  by  whom  he  is  not  "  quenched" 
or  "  grieved  ;"  and,  perhaps  while  the  pastor  is  exercised  as 
a  pastor,  these  souls  may  be  at  the  same  time  exercised  in 
their  measure  with  that  preparatory  work  of  grace  of  which 
we  have  spoken.  Let  the  pastor,  then,  call  to  mind  partic- 
ular persons  in  whose  piety  he  has  entire  confidence  ;  let  him 
offer  for  each  of  them  a  special  and  earnest  prayer ;  then  let 
him  seek  them  out ;  confer  with  them  on  the  state  of  the 
flock  ;  know  what  their  views  are,  and  how  they  feel  in  re- 
spect to  it ;  and  if  he  find  in  them  any  fellowship  of  spirit, 
and  any  readiness  to  co-operate  with  him  appropriately  in 
measures  for  awakening  the  flock  out  of  their  sleep,  then  let 
him  consult  with  them,  in  a  fraternal  manner,  concerning 
measures,  and,  if  possible,  determine  as  to  the  first  step  to  be 
taken. 

The  pastor  ought  not  to  omit  efforts  to  obtain  the  aid  of  par- 
ticular members  of  his  flock  before  he  begins  unusual  labors 
openly  among  them.  If,  amid  the  spiritual  desolation  by 
which  his  flock  appears  to  him  to  be  overspread,  he  should 
conclude  there  are  no  souls  to  be  found  in  a  state  different 
from  the  rest,  perhaps  he  would  misjudge,  as  the  prophet  did, 
who  supposed  himself  to  be  the  only  man  left  in  Israel  on  the 
Lord's  side,  while  the  Lord  had,  in  fact,  reserved  seven  thou- 
sand to  himself. — 1  Kings,  xix.,  10,  14,  18.  And  even  if  hia 


MEETING    FOR    PRAYER.  309 

conclusions  were  true,  he  ought,  perhaps,  to  address  himself 
first  to  certain  individuals — those  in  appearance  most  likely 
to  be  gained,  that,  by  the  concurrence  of  one  or  two  at  least, 
he  might  strengthen  himself  for  the  work  before  him. 

What  should  be  aimed  at  first  ?  That  without  which  all 
else  that  can  be  gained  would  be  unavailing,  namely,  the 
presence  of  the  Spirit  as  an  Awakener.  The  awakening 
power  is  with  him,  not  with  the  pastor  and  his  fellow-help- 
ers, who,  by  multiplying  and  enforcing  measures  apart  from 
the  Spirit,  might  vex,  and  irritate,  and  divide  the  flock,  or 
might  produce  certain  developments  of  fanatical  zeal  among 
them,  but  never  truly  awaken  them  :  "  On  my  servants  and 
on  my  handmaidens  I  will  pour  out  in  those  days  of  my  Spir- 
it."— Acts,  ii.,  18. 

And  the  means  of  obtaining  the  fulfillment  of  this  prom- 
ise are  indicated :  "I  will  yet  for  this  be  inquired  of  by  the 
house  of  Israel  to  do  it  for  them." — Ezek.,  xxxvi.,  37.  "  I 
will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David,  and  upon  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplications." — 
Zech.,  xii.,  10.  The  instrumentality  first  of  all  to  be  em- 
ployed is  that  whose  direct  aim  and  tendency  is  upward,  not 
abroad  upon  the  flock  :  Heaven  is  to  be  opened  before  the 
flock  can  be  effectually  reached.  And  by  whom  is  this  to 
be  done  ?  Instrumentally  by  the  pastor  and  the  two  or  three 
others  whom  he  has  now  joined  with  himself:  The  flock, 
generally,  can  take  no  part :  There  may  be  true  Christians, 
many  such  among  them ;  but  they  can  not  sincerely  offer 
prayer  for  that  which  they  do  not  desire,  and  which  they 
have  no  sense  of  needing  :  The  prayer  required  must  have  its 
beginning  with  the  pastor  and  his  few  like-minded  aids.  And 
the  first  thing  which  they  should  do  in  concert,  after  speak- 
ing to  one  another  concerning  the  state  of  the  flock,  is  to  pray 
together  concerning  it.  They  should  have  a  meeting  for 
prayer  by  themselves  ;  for  as  yet  it  must  not  be  open  to  oth- 
ers, who  can  not  come  into  it  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  Let  the 


310  MEETING    FOR    PRAYER. 

pastor  appoint  the  meeting  in  his  own  study,  and  let  the  time, 
if  not  inconvenient,  be  early  in  the  morning,  before  any  idea 
of  business  or  domestic  care  has  had  place  in  the  mind.  And 
let  the  whole  hour  be  spent  in  prayer — prayer,  and  nothing 
else,  if  the  spirit  be  willing  enough,  and  the  flesh  not  too  weak. 
Let  the  brethren  pray  with  the  pastor  ;  and  if  strength  does 
not  fail,  let  them  follow  one  another  without  rising  from 
their  knees  :  If  there  be  no  weariness,  if  the  inward  ear- 
nestness and  importunity  be  sufficient  to  sustain  the  continu- 
ance of  supplication  to  the  end  of  the  hour,  it  will  be  most 
accordant  with  the  peculiar  object  and  character  of  the  meet- 
ing to  have  no  interruption,  and  the  earnestness  will  be  deep- 
ened and  increased  by  the  lengthened  exercise  of  it. 

The  next  step  is  another  meeting  of  the  same  character, 
but  larger  ;  or,  rather,  the  means  of  securing  such  a  meeting. 
The  spirit  of  the  first  meeting  is,  if  possible,  to  be  diffused, 
and  the  means  to  be  used  for  this  end  are  not  different  from 
those  which  were  used  by-the  pastor  before  the  first  meeting. 
Secrecy  is  to  be  observed,  not  because  there  is  any  thing  in 
itself  improper  to  be  made  known,  but  because  the  flock  are 
not  prepared  yet  to  take  part  in  the  proceedings,  and  their 
character  and  purpose  might  possibly  be  evil  spoken  of:  Let 
the  pastor,  with  his  brethren,  then,  confer  together  a  moment 
before  they  separate,  and  let  each  one  agree  to  do  what  the 
pastor  did  before  the  first  meeting  took  place — see  some  one 
or  more  of  the  members  of  the  flock  whom  he  may  judge 
most  likely  to  welcome  a  visit  from  him,  having  such  an  ob- 
ject ;  and  if,  after  duly  and  earnestly  conversing  with  them 
on  the  state  of  the  flock,  they  express  solicitude,  and  a  read- 
iness to  co-operate  in  measures  for  improving  it,  let  them  be 
informed  that  a  meeting  for  prayer,  with  reference  to  that 
end,  is  to  be  held  at  such  a  time  and  place,  and  invite  them 
to  attend  it.  This  second  meeting  should,  if  possible,  take 
place  as  early  as  the  next  morning,  at  the  same  hour,  and 
perhaps  in  the  same  room  in  which  the  first  was  held.  And 


BEGINNING    OF    SENSIBILITY.  311 

after  a  few  words  spoken  by  the  pastor  from  a  heart  touched 
and  filled  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  respecting  the  design  of  the  un- 
usual meeting,  let  it  be  conducted  as  the  first  was  ;  the  pas* 
tor  taking  the  lead,  and  designating  the  brethren  who  are  to 
follow  him,  and  the  order  in  which  they  are  to  pray,  one  aft- 
er another. 

The  third  step,  perhaps,  should  be  another  and  a  larger 
meeting,  at  the  same  place,  and  at  the  same  hour  of  the 
next  day.  It  would  not  be  surprising  if  the  second  meeting 
should  be  many  times  larger  than  the  first,  and  it  would  not 
be  without  a  parallel  if  it  should  possess  the  same  character 
with  the  first  in  a  higher  intensity.  But  even  if  this  should 
be  the  case,  it  might  notjbe  injudicious  to  appoint  a  third 
meeting,  to  be  enlarged  in  the  same  way  that  the  first  was, 
with  the  same  quietness  and  secrecy,  the  same  care  to  pre- 
vent its  character  from  being  changed.  And  if  a  third  meet- 
ing should  take  place,  it  might,  it  probably  would  be  as  large 
as  the  pastor's  study  could  conveniently  contain,  and  be  in 
spirit  like  the  first,  possibly  with  a  yet  deeper  tone  and  in- 
tensity. 

Should  such  be  the  result  of  these  movements,  here  would 
be  an  incipient  awakening  ;  thus  far  the  state  of  the  flock 
would  be  a  new  and  a  promising  state  :  If  the  whole  flock 
were  as  this  part  is,  the  pastor  would  doubtless  have  cause 
for  the  hope  that  God  was  about  to  "  turn  again  the  captiv- 
ity of  Zion." — Ps.  cxxvi.,  1.  But  a  change  is  now  taking 
place  in  the  character  of  his  measures,  and  he  may  meet  with 
unexpected  difficulties  if  he  is  not  on  his  guard,  if  he  does 
not  "ponder  the  path  of  his  feet."  —  Prov.,  iv.,  26.  The 
meetings  can  no  longer  be  held  in  his  study  ;  the  awaken- 
ing has  extended  too  far  ;  it  must  show  itself  openly  before 
the  face  of  the  whole  flock.  -What  is  next  to  be  done? 
Shall  these  meetings  be  discontinued  ?  The  very  necessity 
for  holding  them  in  some  other  place  seems  to  forbid.  Their 
fruitfulness  has  produced  this  necessity  :  They  have  not  ful- 


312  LARGER    ATTENDANCE. 

filled  their  end  ;  would  it  not  be  most  unwise  to  discontinue 
an  instrumentality  which,  proceeding  as  it  has  begun,  would 
probably  diffuse  an  awakening  influence  through  the  whole 
flock  ?  Perhaps  all  would  be  lost  which  has  been  secured, 
by  discontinuing  them.  There  is  danger  that  they  will  be 
henceforth  without  the  peculiar  influence  which  has  hereto- 
Core  belonged  to  them  :  They  will  be  open  to  all  who  may 
choose  to  attend  them,  and  some  may  come  to  them  who  par- 
take not  of  their  spirit — some,  perhaps,  who  dislike,  and  in- 
tend to  set  themselves  against  them.  Still,  the  pastor  will 
probably  have  no  hesitation,  after  consulting  with  the  breth- 
ren, and  providing  against  all  violations  of  order,  to  appoint 
a  meeting,  which  is  to  be  no  longer  private.  And,  notwith- 
standing all  difficulties  and  perils,  he  may,  perhaps,  secure 
to  it  the  character  of  the  others,  if  not  improve  it  and  ad- 
vance its  usefulness,  by  exercising  prudence  in  the  following 
particulars  :  1 .  In  having  the  place  of  the  meeting  as  little 
public  as  possible,  preferring  some  retired  roofn  to  either  the 
temple  or  the  chapel.  2.  In  the  manner  of  announcing  the 
meeting  :  Let  him  state  very  explicitly  the  object  of  the 
meeting  ;  let  him  speak  frankly  of  the  former  meetings,  and 
tell  why  this  one  has  become  necessary ;  and  while  he  dis- 
courages no  one's  attendance,  let  him  express  the  desire  that 
those  who  shall  come  to  it  come  with  a  determination  to 
unite  with  the  pastor  and  the  others  who  may  be  present  in 
seeking  the  end  of  its  appointment,  earnestly  and  in  every 
appropriate  method.  3.  In  the  manner  of  conducting  the 
meeting  :  Let  there  be  at  first,  and  perhaps  for  several  times 
afterward,  no  material  difference  between  this  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  meetings  in  his  study  were  conducted :  let 
all  kneel  down  in  prayer,  after  reading  a  few  passages  of 
Scripture,  and  continue  kneeling  and  praying  for  the  entire 
hour ;  and  let  the  pastor  designate  such  brethren  to  lead  in 
prayer,  one  after  another,  as  he  may  judge  best  prepared  by 
the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  their  hearts,  to  offer  supplications 


''•*' 

**,  '  *    . 

HUMILIATION.  313 

for  the  object  of  the  meeting.  For  two  reasons  should  this 
manner  be  adhered  to,  at  least  for  a  time  longer  or  shorter  : 
(1)  Because  it  is  the  manner  which  the  deepest  earnestness, 
absorption  of  the  soul  in  desire  for  the  object,  would  prefer ; 
and,  (2)  Because  this  manner  will  tend  to  secure  the  proper 
character  to  the  meetings,  by  offering  no  temptation  to  at- 
tendance on  them  on  the  part  of  persons  whose  hearts  are 
not  yet  prepared  to  enter  fully  into  the  spirit  of  such  meetings. 

With  all  who  attend  these  meetings,  earnestly  and  intense- 
ly desiring  that  they  may  be  instrumental  in  extending  and 
increasing  the  awakening  power — the  pastor  arid  all  the  oth- 
ers, it  should,  it  must  indeed,  be  the  point  of  chief  concern 
that  they  possess  distinctively,  and  in  as  high  a  degree  as 
possible,  the  character  which  is  adapted,  and  which  is  neces- 
sary to  secure  the  end.  This  character  chiefly  consists  of  a 
profound  sense  of  the  unutterable  importance  and  desirableness 
of  a  thorough  awakening  in  the  flock,  a  sense  involving  some- 
times a  sympathy  with  St.  Paul  in  his  self-renouncing  desire 
for  the  salvation  of  his  brethren,  his  kinsmen  after  the  flesh, 
as  expressed  in  Rom.,  ix.,  3,  together  with  a  sense  of  absolute 
dependence  on  God's  sovereign  grace  for  this  result,  and  a  spir- 
it of  importunity  in  prayer  like  that  of  Jacob  (Gen.,  xxxii., 
24-27)  and  that  of  the  woman  of  Canaan  (Matt., xv.,  22-28). 
When  meetings  for  prayer  have  this  character,  they  can 
hardly  fail  to  be  followed  by  the  best  kind  of  results. 

But  if  the  Holy  Spirit  design  to  make  much  use  of  those  who 
attend  these  meetings  as  vehicles  of  his  influence  in  awakening 
the  flock  and  in  subsequent  works,  he  will  probably,  while  im- 
parting to  them  these  peculiar  impressions  and  movements  of 
soul,  or,  perhaps,  before  doing  this  to  any  considerable  extent, 
bring  them  into  another  state  of  which  they  had  no  thought 
when  the  meetings  commenced.  Both  the  pastor  and  those 
who  are  with  him  may  have  an  introverted  action  of  mind 
on  their  own  internal  states,  of  a  very  peculiar  character,  in- 
termingled with  their  thoughts  and  solicitudes  about  the  state 

0 


314     SELF-SACRIFICE    ON    THE    PART    OF    THE    PASTOR. 

of' the  flock.  They  may  find  themselves  engaged  in  a  most 
intense  examination  of  their  personal  piety,  the  foundations  of 
their  hopes  toward  God,  questioning  themselves  most  closely 
and  severely  as  to  the  real  nature  of  their  religious  affections 
and  life.  The  Spirit  may  lead  them  to  a  most  earnest  re- 
newal of  their  vocation  as  Christians,  through  a  process  of  re- 
newed conviction  of  sin,  and  mortification  of  corrupt  desire, 
and  humiliation  of  soul,  in  passing  through  which  they  may 
have  a  more  searching,  painful,  deep  experience,  than  that 
which  was  connected  with  their  first  conversion.  The  truth 
is,  we  are  all,  at  our  best  estate,  too  little  emptied  of  self,  too 
little  disgusted,  too  little  acquainted  with  self;  and  nothing 
can  put  us  at  the  point  of  view  from  which  self  is  to  be  truly 
seen  but  a  mighty  work  of  internal  humiliation,  begun,  car- 
ried on,  and  perfected  by  the  Spirit :  And  it  may  not  please 
him  to  employ  us  as  his  instruments  in  awakening  and  con- 
verting others  before  he  has  performed  this  work  within  us. 
The  solicitude  of  the  pastor  especially,  while  this  process  is 
going  on,  is  sometimes  very  singular  :  While  he  trembles  in 
himself  most  profoundly  lest  his  piety  be  unsound  and  his  soul 
in  peril,  he  is  yet  more  concerned  for  the  souls  of  his  flock, 
and  can  almost  adopt  the  words  of  David  (2  Sam.,  xxiv.,  17), 
"  Lo,  I  have  sinned,  and  I  have  done  wickedly  ;  but  these 
sheep,  what  have  they  done  ?  Let  thine  hand,  I  pray  thee, 
be  against  me." 

It  is  probable  that  the  meetings  in  the  new  place  will 
gradually  become  larger,  especially  if  they  retain  the  charac- 
ter which  should  belong  to  them.  It  would  not  be  improper 
if  the  brethren  should  still  seek  to  increase  them  in  the  mode 
first  employed  :  But  the  mere  advertisement  of  them  will  be 
sufficient  to  draw  some  souls  to  them ;  more,  perhaps,  than 
are  well  prepared  to  take  part  in  them  ;  and  if  the  interest 
in  them  advances,  the  place  in  which  they  are  held  will  be- 
come too  strait  for  them,  and  it  will  be  necessary  again  to 
transfer  them  to  a  larger  and  less  secluded  place.  This 


FASTING.  315 

should  be  done  reluctantly,  and  not  until  the  demand  for  it 
becomes  very  evident  and  very  urgent. 

After  these  meetings  have  thus  been  forced  into  more  pub- 
licity, it  may  be  expedient  to  diversify  the  mode  of  conduct- 
ing them  :  Indeed,  some  change  before  this  may  have  been 
required  ;  but  the  time  may  now  have  come  for  material  va- 
riations :  Discourse  from  the  pastor  may  be  demanded — well 
prepared  discourse,  adapted  to  enlighten,  to  deepen,  to  direct 
the  feeling  of  the  attendants  :  The  nature  and  guilt  of  the 
declension  into  which  the  flock  has  fallen  ;  the  evils  and 
perils  of  such  a  state  ;  their  aggravation  in  the  case  partic- 
ularly of  this  flock  ;  the  dreadfulness  of  remaining  any  longer 
at  such  a  distance  from  God ;  these  topics  may  now  be  par- 
ticularly and  thoroughly  examined  with  great  advantage,  and 
the  pastor  ought,  perhaps,  to  dwell  upon  them  with  tender 
earnestness,  but  also  with  great  faithfulness,  and  with  as 
much  force  as  possible  :  And  if  the  result  shall  be  what  he 
might  probably  hope  for  and  expect,  a  day  of  fasting  may 
seem  desirable,  and  may  be  proposed  ;  every  one,  doubtless, 
will  desire  it,  and,  with  the  full  consent  of  all,  it  should  be 
in  an  orderly  manner  appointed. 

A  fast-day,  in  such  circumstances,  properly  and  earnestly 
observed,  will  doubtless  be  of  great  avail.  Such  a  day  will 
be  a  natural  exponent,  a  proper  symbol,  of  the  internal  state 
of  the  souls  which  have  been  in  attendance  on  the  meetings  ; 
it  will,  at  the  same  time,  tend  to  advance  that  state,  and  thus 
aid  also  directly  to  extend  the  awakening  among  the  flock 
at  large.  Let  not  the  observance  of  the  day  be  urged  on  any 
one  ;  let  liberty  in  respect  to  its  observance  be  encouraged ; 
and  let  those  whose  hearts  do  not  strongly  incline  and  con- 
strain them  to  observe  it,  be  prudently  but  earnestly  dis- 
suaded from  doing  so.  It  would  not  be  surprising  if  its 
observance  should  be  attended  with  signal  evidences  of 
the  presence  and  power  of  the  Spirit,  and  with  signal  results 
among  the  flock.  As  an  instrument  of  extending  the  awak- 


316  RENEWAL   OF   COVENANT. 

ening,  perhaps  nothing  could  be  of  equal   influence    and 
value. 

Connected  with  fasting,  a  solemn  renewal  of  the  Church- 
covenant  may  be  very  expedient  and  useful.  Of  this  cove- 
nant their  declension  is  a  grievous  violation,  and,  when  made 
sensible  of  this,  they  can  not  but  deplore  their  blame  and  re- 
proach in  this  regard  ;  and  if  this  covenant  is  not  henceforth 
to  be  disowned,  it  ought  to  be  renewed,  and,  in  the  existing 
circumstances,  it  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  there  were  any 
general  hesitation  to  renew  it.  The  principle  in  the  exercise 
of  which  the  people  of  God  anciently  renewed  their  covenant 
with  Him  and  one  another  (Joshua,  xxiv.,  14-28  ;  2  Chron., 
xxxiv.,  29-32 ;  Ezra,  x.,  1-8  ;  Nehemiah,  ix.),  has  its  ground 
in  permanent  equity  and  virtue,  and  there  may  be  circum- 
stances in  which  its  practical  acknowledgment  on  the  part 
of  a  Christian  flock  is  so  obviously  and  forcibly  required,  that 
a  truly  enlightened,  humble,  and  free  spirit  could  not  refuse 
to  renew  it.  Still,  there  may  be  some  deeply-moved  souls  in 
the  assembly  who  refrain  from  taking  this  step,  not  because 
they  would  be  unwilling  to  take  it  if  they  thought  themselves 
prepared  to  do  so,  but  from  a  horror  of  the  guilt  of  breaking 
covenant  with  God,  and  from  an  overwhelming  sense  of  hav- 
ing contracted  this  guilt  already,  and  from  not  having  as  yet 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit  with  their  spirits  that  their  guilt  has 
been  forgiven.  The  dissent  of  these,  however,  should  not  hin- 
der others  from  doing  what  they  regard  to  be  a  duty  and  a 
privilege. 

As  the  first  result  of  these  meetings  and  these  exercises, 
there  will  probably  be  a  new  effusion  of  the  Spirit,  as  a  spirit 
of  comfort  and  peace  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  have  been 
attending  them  :  It  would  not  be  strange  if  they  should  have, 
for  the  most  part,  a  renewal  of  their  first  love,  and  their  first 
peace,  and  hope,  and  joy,  in  a  larger  measure  than  that  which 
was  granted  to  them  when  they  were  first  converted.  As  a 
consequence  of  this,  the  next  result,  doubtless,  would  be  a  fur- 


THE    SPIRIT    NOT    LIMITED    TO    ONE    WAY.  317 

ther  extension  of  the  awakening  among  the  other  memhers 
of  the  flock  ;  and  thus,  by  degrees, the  flock  generally  may  be- 
come, probably  will  become,  awakened  and  revived.  "  When 
thou  art  converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren." — Luke,  xxii., 
32.  "  I  will  run  the  way  of  thy  commandments,  when  thou 
shalt  enlarge  my  heart." — Ps.  cxix.,  32. 

Let  us  not  be  understood  as  intending  to  say  or  imply  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  limits  himself  to  one  mode  of  awakening 
and  restoring  a  backslidden  flock — the  mode  which  we  have 
been  detailing.  We  know  that  he  uses  other  modes  :  Some- 
times he  arouses  a  slumbering  flock  by  means  of  alarming  judg- 
ments one  after  another,  perhaps  in  quick  succession  ;  some- 
times he  employs  extraordinary  preaching,  continued  through 
successive  days,  perhaps  weeks  ;  sometimes  he  breathes  upon 
the  whole  flock,  while  the  pastor  is  giving  his  entire  attention 
to  the  unconverted,  and  laboring  earnestly  to  win  souls  to 
Christ ;  sometimes  the  effect  takes  place  while  the  pastor  is 
presenting,  in  a  series  of  discourses,  the  analysis  and  the  evi- 
dences of  the  great  verities  of  the  Gospel,  with  unusual  thor- 
oughness and  power  ;  and  sometimes  the  Spirit  attests  his 
sovereignty  as  to  modes  of  influence  by  apparently  dispens- 
ing with  all  mode,  and  by  coming  suddenly  into  his  temple 
with  his  arousing  and  searching  influences,  while  no  one,  not 
even,  perhaps,  the  pastor,  is  seeking,  or  expecting,  or  dreaming 
of  the  Heavenly  visitation.  But  if  a  pastor,  against  all  his 
ordinary  pains  and  prayers,  finds  the  backsliding  spirit  still 
predominant  among  his  flock,  and  making  his  ministry  use- 
less and  even  hurtful  to  them  ;  and  unable  to  forbear  any 
longer,  and  having  no  help  from  man,  no  hope  but  from  God, 
would  pursue  the  means  of  awakening  which  Scripture  and 
reason  indicate  as  best  adapted  to  secure  the  divine  aid  which 
is  needed,  we  think  he  will  not  be  misled  if  he  takes  the  course 
we  have  endeavored  to  delineate. 

The  pastor,  we  assume,  is  now  exercising  his  ministry  with 


318  SPECIAL    ACTIVITY. 

encouragement  and  hope  :  There  has  been  a  renewal  of  re- 
ligious interest  in  his  parish ;  the  work  of  God  among  his 
flock  has  been  revived,  and  we  are  henceforth  to  contemplate 
him  in  new  circumstances.  We  pass  to  consider  the  mode 
of  pastoral  activity  in  a  season  of  special  interest. 

Let  us  not  think  that  the  ordinary  mode  will  now  suffice  ; 
that  the  speciality  of  the  interest  will  make  what  is  ordinary 
special ;  that  the  ordinary  mode  is  the  just  measure  of  the 
pastor's  strength,  on  the  whole,  and  that  he  ought  not  to  un- 
dertake labors  which  he  can  not  continue.  There  may  be 
truth  in  the  former  affirmations,  but  this  last  is  not  to  be 
now  a  rule  to  the  pastor.  He  must  consider  his  strength,  he 
must  also  remember  that  special  labors  can  not  be  special 
long,  and  that  the  cessation  of  labor  may  involve  in  the  re- 
sult a  proportionate  cessation  of  fruit ;  still,  the  conclusion  is 
not  legitimate  that  he  should  content  himself  with  his  accus- 
tomed amount  of  activity.  "  You  are  aware  of  what  conse- 
quence it  is  in  worldly  concerns  to  embrace  opportunities  and 
to  improve  critical  seasons ;  and  thus,  in  the  things  of  the 
Spirit,  there  are  times  peculiarly  favorable,  moments  of  happy 
visitation,  where  much  more  may  be  done  toward  the  ad- 
vancement of  our  spiritual  interest  than  usual.  There  are 
gales  of  the  Spirit,  unexpected  influences  of  light  and  power, 
which  no  assiduity  in  the  means  of  grace  can  command,  but 
which  it  is  a  great  point  of  wisdom  to  improve."*  Wisdom 
in  the  pastor,  when  there  is  a  fullness  of  spiritual  power  among 
his  flock,  will  not  permit  him  to  work  for  their  good  only,  as 
at  ordinary  times.  Work  now  may  be  productive  according 
to  its  amount :  A  month,  a  week,  a  day,  perhaps,  may  be  as 
an  ordinary  year.  He  must  not  be  too  economical  of  his 
strength  ;  he  must  not  love  his  life  too  well ;  his  hour  has 
come — an  hour  worth  more,  perhaps,  than  a  life ;  he  must 
fill  this  hour  with  labor,  thoughtful  as  to  consequences — as  to 

*  ROBERT  HALL  :  On  the  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Works,  vol.  i.,  p. 
450,  451. 


SPECIAL    ACTIVITY.  319 

what  may  be  involved  in  the  mode  of  his  activity  during 
this  auspicious  season — what  may  proceed  from  it  to  himself 
and  to  his  flock,  if  he  improve  it  as  he  should  do — what,  also, 
if  he  should  not.*  The  pastor  should  not  consult  with  flesh 
and  blood  ;  he  should  labor  for  his  flock,  in  all  his  movements 
and  acts,  as  a  pastor  filled  with  the  Spirit,  walking  in  tho 
Spirit,  walking  in  the  footsteps  of  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
guided  by  the  wisdom  which  is  from  above. 

An  increase  of  labor,  extraordinary  activity  on  the  part  of 
the  pastor,  is  a  spontaneous,  natural  result  of  the  internal 
state  in  which  he  and  his  flock  now  find  themselves :  It  is 
demanded  by  the  augmented  vigor  and  activity  of  their  spir- 
itual life,  and  by  the  reciprocal  influence  of  his  soul  on  theirs, 
and  of  theirs  on  his,  in  this  season  of  religious  refreshing. 
Whenever  he  meets  them,  it  is  to  impart  to  them  a  new  en- 
ergy, and  to  receive  one  from  them  :  The  inter-activity  of 
their  "  mutual  faith,"  their  mutual  life,  results  directly  in  a 
higher  measure  of  activity  in  them  both.  The  pastor  would 
do  himself  violence  if  he  should  refrain  from  new  labors  :  He 
doubtless  needs  self-control,  pastoral  prudence,  firmness  of  will, 
to  avoid  being  led  into  labors  beyond  his  strength. 

The  preliminary  meetings,  if  meetings  of  this  character 
originated  the  interest,  will  not  be  discontinued ;  they  will 
be  changed,  but  the  change  will  be  only  as  a  continuous 
shining  of  light  from  dawn  to  perfect  day.  They  will  not  be 
discontinued  :  They  are  useful  still  in  various  ways.  The 
prayer  which  is  offered  in  these  meetings  has  become  effect- 
ual, fervent,  intercessory  prayer — prayer  which  loses  sight  of 
self  in  concern  for  others — prayer  for  the  pastor  that  he  may 
be  upheld  and  prospered  in  his  new  labors — prayer  for  the 

*        "  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men, 

Which,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune  ; 
Omitted,  all  the  voyage  of  their  life 
Is  bound  in  shallows  and  in  miseries." 
— SHAKSPEARE  :  Julius  Casar,  act  iv.,  scene  3. 


320  FREQUENT    PREACHING. 

further  extension  of  the  awakening — prayer  for  indiviti-tfcfs  in 
different  states  :  for  new  converts,  for  troubled  souls,  lor  souls 
yet  indifferent,  etc. — prayer  that  excesses  may  be  avoided, 
and  all  things  may  proceed  in  a  decent  and  orderly  course 
— prayer  for  a  yet  greater  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  The  pas- 
tor does  not  neglect  these  meetings.  As  soon  would  he  neg- 
lect to  take  his  necessary  refreshment,  his  necessary  food.  It 
was  by  meetings  for  prayer,  from  which  these  are  not  essen- 
tially different,  that  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  was  usher- 
ed into  the  world ;  and  of  the  agency  afterward  employed 
by  the  apostles,  none  ranked  higher  than  this — none,  it  would 
seem,  so  high.  "  We  will  give  ourselves  to  prayer  and  the 
ministry  of  the  word." — Acts,  vi.,  4.  Where  this  order  is 
inverted,  where  the  highest  place  is  given  to  preaching,  man, 
doubtless,  re  depended  on  to  carry  on  the  work  rather  than 
the  sovereign  Spirit  of  God,  whose  influence  is  not  given  ex- 
cept in  answer  to  prayer,  and  is  given  generally  in  propor- 
tion to  the  earnestness,  and  importunity,  and  boldness  of  faith 
with  which  it  is  sought  by  the  prayers  of  the  saints.  It  is 
by  prayer  on  the  part  of  members  of  his  flock,  more  than  by 
all  other  means,  that  the  pastor  is  sustained  in  the  pulpit, 
and  made  bold,  free,  wise,  skillful,  spiritual,  powerful,  happy 
in  preaching.  It  gives  him  strength,  life,  and  liberty  in 
preaching,  merely  to  think  that  he  has  been,  and  still  is,  re- 
membered in  the  prayers  of  his  flock  ;  and  if  he  is  assured 
that, at  the  very  time  he  is  preaching, a  company  of  souls  in 
some  private  place  are  beseeching  God  to  help  him  to  liberty 
of  thought  and  utterance,  this  persuasion,  perhaps,  imparts  to 
him  "  a  mouth  and  wisdom"  not  to  be  exchanged  for  the 
tongue  of  men  and  angels. 

The  pastor,  as  to  the  amount  of  his  preaching,  will  abound 
beyond  his  usual  measure.  The  spirit  of  life  with  which  he 
and  his  flock  have  been  baptized,  is  the  spirit  of  preaching  : 
The  word  has  been  its  instrument,  and  it  lives  and  subsists 
upon  the  word.  The  spirit  begets  us  unto  God  by  the  word  ; 


FREQUENT    PREACHING.  321 

by  the  word  destroys  our  corruptions,  by  the  word  arms  us 
for  our  warfare  ;  makes  us  watchful  and  courageous  ;  ani- 
mates, admonishes,  guides,  consoles,  feeds  us ;  all  by  the 
word,  as  applied  by  himself.  And  what  the  word  is  as  to 
our  own  life,  the  same  is  it  as  to  the  use  which  we  make  of 
our  life  out  of  ourselves,  or  for  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel 
among  those  who  have  not  received  it.  Our  life  in  this  out- 
ward movement,  is  but  a  holding  forth  of  the  word  of  Life  : 
With  reference  to  this  our  life  is  given  to  us,  and  it  is  given 
in  vain,  if  this  be  not  its  fruit. — Matt.,  v.,  13-15  ;  xiii.,  52. 
Indeed,  that  which  we  have  received  is  not  the  true  life. — 1 
John,  iv.,  2,  3.  The  mission  of  God's  Spirit  in  this  world  is 
to  Christianize  it — to  make  all  men  know,  love,  acknowl- 
edge, serve  Christ :  And  they  are  not  led  by  that  Spirit,  nei- 
ther are  they  in  that  Spirit's  interest,  who  are  not  striving  to 
this  end.  Since,  therefore,  it  is  mainly  through  preaching 
(Rom.,  x.,  17)  that  the  Christian  life  advances,  every  true 
spirit,  every  true  life,  reveals  itself  in  activity  in  preaching, 
or  the  manifestation  of  the  truth.  Assuredly,  wherever  a  true 
religious  interest  is  rising  and  spreading  in  a  flock,  preaching, 
in  one  way  or  another,  is  advancing  proportionately  :  If  the 
flock  have  a  pastor,  he  is  not  a  true  pastor  if  he  be  not  in 
preaching  "  more  abundant." 

As  to  the  form  of  his  preaching  at  such  a  time,  it  will  be 
the  same  as  it  has  been,  modified  appropriately  by  the  spe- 
ciality of  his  circumstances.  He  will  have  no  other  Gospel 
to  preach  than  that  which  he  has  preached  :  He  will  have 
no  other  gift  to  exercise  in  preaching  it  than  that  which  he 
has  received.  And  as  to  the  extent,  measure,  and  variety  in 
which  he  is  to  use  it,  his  guide  is  "  the  spirit  of  power,  of 
love,  and  of  a  sound  mind." 

It  is  probable  that  he  will  not  limit  himself  to  preaching 
in  public  :  The  houses  of  his  flock  will  now  be  offered  to 
him,  perhaps  with  entreaties  to  occupy  them  ;  and  "  preach- 
ing from  house  to  house"  may  enter  in  no  small  measure 

02 


322  PREACHING    FROM    HOUSE    TO   HOUSE. 

into  his  plan  of  labor.  In  respect  to  his  public  preaching — 
its  particular  topics,  ends,  manner,  times — there  is,  perhaps, 
nothing  to  be  considered  by  him,  after  giving  due  regard  to 
the  speciality  in  the  state  of  his  flock,  but  these  two  max- 
ims :  1.  That  he  is  in  danger,  from  his  present  facility  in 
preaching,  and  from  the  indulgence  of  his  hearers,  of  becom- 
ing loose,  desultory,  superficial ;  and,  2.  That,  so  far  from 
yielding  to  this  temptation,  he  ought  to  aim,  more  than  ever, 
at  the  highest  perfection  in  preaching.  His  auditory  will 
now  give  him  the  hearing  ear,  a  teachable  heart,  a  tender 
conscience,  and  a  self-applying  mind ;  and  he  will  mistake, 
both  in  reference  to  the  best  means  of  deepening  and  diffus- 
ing the  interest  now  existing  in  his  flock,  and  in  reference  to 
their  permanent  edification  and  usefulness,  if  he  does  not  use 
the  present  as  a  most  favorable  opportunity  for  giving  his 
flock  the  most  thorough  instruction  in  doctrinal,  experimental, 
and  practical  Christianity.  Preaching  of  so  intellectual  a 
character  may  seem  inconsistent  with  meeting  the  demand 
for  frequency  ;  but  the  appearance  of  inconsistency  vanishes 
when  we  remember  that  the  pastor,  in  this  "  day  of  visita- 
tion," has  received  a  new  baptism,  with  reference  to  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  preaching  gift — a  baptism  which  "  makes  him 
of  quick  understanding  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord"  (Is.,  xi.,  3)  ; 
which  puts  his  soul  into  unusual  affinity  with  the  Christian 
doctrines,  "  the  things  of  the  Spirit ;"  which  sharpens  and  il- 
lumines all  his  inward  man  ;  and  that,  after  all,  the  most 
difficult  strain  of  preaching,  to  a  well-indoctrinated  pastor,  is 
not  that  which  is  most  intellectual,  but  that  which  has  to 
encounter  the  disadvantages  of  a  state  of  moral  insensibility, 
of  declension  in  the  religious  life. 

We  do  not  think  that  the  pastor  will,  on  the  whole,  find  it 
expedient  to  introduce  another  preacher  into  his  parish.  An 
occasional  sermon,  or  an  exchange  of  pulpits,  now  and  then, 
with  a  neighboring  pastor,  may,  as  formerly,  be  still  accept- 
able, but  preaching  a  consecutive  course  of  sermons  by  a 


EARNEST    PREACHING.  323 

stranger,  especially  if  he  be  a  man  of  captivating  address  or 
uncommon  eloquence,  may  not  favor  the  advancement  of  the 
simple  and  spiritual  work  now  in  progress  among  the  flock  ; 
and,  what  is  more  to  be  regarded,  may  put  the  pastor,  as  a 
preacher,  into  a  disadvantageous  contrast  with  this  more  at- 
tractive, but  perhaps  less  solid,  and,  on  the  whole,  less  in- 
structive, less  profitable  preacher.  There  may  be  cases  in 
which  another  preacher  is  necessary,  as  when  the  pastor's 
health  fails  ;  but  there  will  probably  be  no  gain,  either  to 
the  pastor  or  to  the  flock,  on  the  whole,  by  employing  an  ad- 
ditional preacher  or  evangelist,  unless  necessity  seems  to  make 
the  demand. 

From  the  unusual  activity  of  the  pastor's  internal  state,  in 
view  of  a  like  internal  state  on  the  part  of  the  flock,  and  es- 
pecially of  the  unconverted  members  of  it,  as  to  whom  the 
present  season  may  perhaps  appear  to  the  pastor  as  their 
"day"  (Luke,  xix.,  42),  the  term  of  grace,  the  turning-point 
of  destiny,  there  will  be  in  his  preaching,  especially  on  certain 
occasions,  an  earnestness,  a  directness,  a  closeness  of  appli- 
cation to  the  conscience  and  the  heart,  a  wrestling  urgency, 
a  tender  vehemence,  prolonged  contestation,  which  might  not 
be  attainable  or  proper  in  a  season  of  declension  and  coldness  : 
And  this  peculiarity  in  the  preaching  may  associate  with  it- 
self some  other  unusual  procedures  in  the  care  of  souls  now, 
which,  in  different  circumstances,  would  not  be  expedient, 
perhaps  not  admissible.  The  pastor,  after  preaching,  may 
feel  constrained  to  second,  if  he  can,  the  appeal  from  the  pul- 
pit, by  a  yet  closer  appeal  and  more  particular  instruction  in 
some  less  public  place ;  and  to  this  end  may  appoint  a  meet- 
ing with  such  as  may  be  willing  to  see  him  in  some  neigh- 
boring room,  immediately  after  the  dismission  of  the  assem- 
bly. And  here,  after  conversing  with  those  who  are  present, 
whether  collectively  or  individually,  there  may  seem  to  be  a 
demand  for  some  further  step,  in  order  to  a  more  thorough 
awakening,  or  more  firmness  of  will  in  certain  souls ;  and 


324  MEETING    FOR    CONVERSATION. 

the  pastor  can  not  forbear  until  something  more  be  done  : 
What  this  shall  be  he  is  to  determine  for  himself,  under  the 
direction  of  an  apostle  (Jude,  22,  23),  not  forgetting  that, 
while  the  soul  is  active  in  conversion,  and  is  required  to  ex- 
ert itself  to  the  utmost  of  its  power  (Matt.,  xi.,  12;  Luke, 
xiii.,  24),  no  activity  of  its  own  will  avail  without  the  re- 
generating and  renewing  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit. — John, 
iii.,  7,  8  ;  Rom.,  ix.,  16. 

The  pastor  will  find  himself  unusually  occupied  in  convers- 
ing with  individuals  ;  sometimes  with  some  who  have  not  yet 
been  awakened,  to  sound  a  personal  alarm  in  their  ear  ;  but 
with  more,  many  more  probably,  who  have  been  effectually 
touched  by  the  Spirit,  so  that  nothing  is  now  more  welcome 
to  them,  more  earnestly  desired  and  sought  by  them,  than  re- 
ligious intercourse  with  their  pastor.  The  multiplication  of 
cases  of  this  latter  class  will  perhaps  be  so  great  that  he  may 
deem  expedient  that  which  at  an  ordinary  time  could  have 
no  place  :  We  refer  to  what  has  been  termed  a  meeting  of 
inquirers,  that  is  to  say,  of  individuals  who  have  so  much 
interest  in  religion  that  they  are  willing  to  be  recognized  in 
the  presence  of  others  as  earnest  seekers  of  light  and  direction 
from  their  pastor. 

In  giving  the  notice  that  such  a  meeting  is  to  be  held,  let 
the  pastor  be  explicit  in  stating  its  object  and  defining  its 
character,  but  let  him  take  heed  lest  he  make  it  seem  need- 
lessly repulsive  to  some  who  are  but  partially  awakened  ; 
and  let  him  invite  all  to  attend  it  who,  with  knowledge  of 
its  nature,  are  inclined  to  be  present ;  and  let  him  even  take 
some  pains  to  give  this  inclination  to  souls  which  as  yet  have 
it  not.  There  is  awakening  power  in  a  mere  notice  of  such 
a  meeting  ;  this  of  itself  may  move  a  soul  which  nothing  else 
might  move  ;  but  if  the  pastor,  when  he  announces  the  meet- 
ing, employs  some  tender,  earnest  expressions  of  pastoral  love 
and  solicitude,  and  makes  nothing  to  be  a  condition  of  attend- 
ance but  willingness  to  attend,  he  may,  in  doing  this,  preach 


MODE    OF   CONDUCTING    IT.  325 

to  some  of  his  hearers  with  a  power  beyond  that  of  any  ser- 
mon they  have  ever  heard  from  him. 

The  inquirers'  meeting,  we  think,  should  be  held  in  a 
place  made  convenient  for  conversation  with  small  groups 
of  individuals.  After  a  short,  pertinent  prayer,  let  the  ex- 
ercises be  introduced  by  an  address  to  the  company,  collect- 
ively, in  order  to  impress  them  more  definitely  and  strongly 
with  the  peculiarity  of  the  meeting,  and  in  order  more  espe- 
cially to  impart  to  the  meeting  a  tranquil  solemnity,  a  calm, 
subdued,  frank  spirit.  The  minds  of  the  attendants  are  prob- 
ably more  or  less  agitated — some  with  spiritual  concern,  too 
deep  to  be  affected  by  any  outward  circumstances  ;  some  by 
finding  themselves  in  such  a  place  in  presence  of  others  ;  some 
by  an  inward  shrinking  from  so  much  engagedness  in  relig- 
ion as  attendance  on  such  a  meeting  implies  :  This  agitation 
must,  if  possible,  be  entirely  displaced  by  a  calm,  still  spirit ; 
for  the  human  mind,  in  a  state  of  perturbation,  is  as  incapa- 
ble of  receiving  any  just  impressions  of  religious  truth  as 
the  surface  of  a  river  to  receive  the  image  of  the  trees  on  its 
banks  when  it  is  ruffled  by  the  wind.  The  pastor,  in  speak- 
ing to  individuals  or  to  groups,  should  be  as  free,  as  simple, 
as  unaffectedly  earnest  in  conversing  now  on  religion  as  he 
would  be  if  his  theme  were  some  subject  of  common  life  ;  for 
the  sacredness  of  religion  is  entirely  misrepresented  if  it  seem 
to  imply  any  necessary  association  with  the  opposites  of  these 
qualities  ;  nay,  if  it  do  not  appear  to  be  absolutely  inconsist- 
ent with  them.  Religion  supposes  seriousness,  solemnity,  a 
holy  dread  ;  but  it  is  in  its  very  nature  a  tranquilizing  pow- 
er, until  its  time  comes  for  dealing  with  its  obstinate  and  in- 
corrigible despisers. — Ezek.,  xxii.,  14.  In  his  conversations 
with  individuals,  let  the  pastor  have  no  care  to  avoid  being 
heard  by  those  who  sit  by  ;  rather  let  him  intend  to  be  heard 
by  them,  for  there  is  nothing  secret  here  ;  and  what  he  speaks 
directly  to  one,  may  be  no  less,  perhaps  more,  appropriate  to 
others  than  to  him.  Questions  should  be  asked  of  the  in- 


VAMJE    OF    THIS    MEETING. 

quirere,  not  merely  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  information,  but 
also  to  elicit  from  them  what  may  give  occasion  for  remark. 
It  may  be  well,  if  possible,  to  get  a  group  of  five  or  six  en- 
gaged in  the  same  conversation,  and  to  induce  them  to  ques- 
tion the  pastor,  and  perhaps  one  another.  And  if  any  thing 
be  said  in  a  particular  conversation  of  this  sort  which  has 
any  special  interest,  and  which  is  of  equal  concern  to  all  the 
inquirers,  let  the  pastor  remark  on  it  in  a  familiar  voice  which 
all  may  hear :  In  this  way  he  may  give  most  valuable  in- 
struction, may  greatly  enliven  and  deepen  the  interest  of  the 
meeting,  and  prepare  his  way  pleasantly  in  passing  from  indi- 
vidual to  individual,  and  from  group  to  group.  "When  he  has 
gone  through  the  entire  company,  let  him  close  as  he  began, 
with  a  ehort  address  to  the  whole,  suggested  by  the  general 
state  of  the  meeting,  as  revealed  to  him  in  the  course  of  his 
conversations.  The  meeting,  we  need  not  say,  should  be  dis- 
missed with  prayer  suited  to  its  occasion  and  character. 

The  value  of  this  meeting  will  depend  much  on  the  spirit 
and  manner  in  which  its  peculiar  exercises  are  conducted  : 
The  pastor  should  not  only  keep  it  absolutely  under  his  own 
direction,  but  should  invite  no  one  to  take  part  with  him  in 
conducting  it,  or  to  be  present  at  it,  except  as  an  inquirer ;  and 
he  should  prepare  himself  for  it,  as  perfectly  as  possible,  by 
special  reflection  and  special  prayer.  He  will  find  it,  if  he 
gives  it  due  attention,  a  means  of  great  advantage  to  him- 
self. It  will  supply  him  with  topics  for  his  sermons  ;  it  will 
be  a  means  of  edification  to  him  :  Never  does  the  truth  come 
home  to  a  pastor's  heart  with  more  power  of  reproof,  of  cor- 
rection, of  encouragement  and  comfort,  than  when  he  is  en- 
deavoring to  impress  it  on  the  souls  of  his  flock  by  conversa- 
tions with  them  individually. 

A  meeting  of  another  character  will  probably  enter  into 
the  pastor's  plan  of  labor  now  :  The  new  converts  have  be- 
come so  numerous  that  he  can  not,  amid  all  his  other  labors, 
give  to  each  one  apart  the  care  which  should  be  given  to  all 


GENERAL   ACTIVITY.  327 

belonging  to  this  class  :  He  may  say  many  things  most  per- 
tinent to  their  state  at  the  inquirers'  meeting,  where  he  will 
be  sure  to  find  them  as  long  as  it  is  proper  that  they  should 
attend  it :  But  this  time  may  be  short ;  and,  moreover,  they 
will  need  instruction,  which  would  be  out  of  place  at  the  meet- 
ing for  inquiry.  The  advantages  to  the  new  converts,  from 
the  general  influence  and  character  of  the  season  of  special 
interest,  are  of  the  highest  value  ;  but  they  do  not  supersede 
the  necessity  for  specific  counsels  and  admonitions  which  they 
are  prepared  to  appreciate,  and  which,  on  their  tender  and 
susceptible  souls,  may  stamp  an  impression  of  sacredness  and 
spirituality,  of  wisdom  and  prudence,  of  zeal  and  devotedness, 
which  may  be  constantly  reappearing  throughout  their  whole 
career  of  sanctification  to  guard  them  against  excesses  and 
errors,  and  secure  to  them  a  symmetrical  and  complete  de- 
velopment of  the  Christian  life  and  character. 

In  yet  another  mode  will  the  pastor's  care  be  now  em- 
ployed :  The  evangelic  life,  both  in  the  pastor  and  the  flock, 
is,  if  we  may  so  speak,  a  Christ-life — a  life  which,  through 
an  infinite  sacrifice,  entering  into  our  fallen  humanity,  seeks 
its  renewal  in  all  individuals  of  the  race  whom  its  influence 
reaches :  And  as  it  is  a  life  of  the  reason  and  the  spirit — a 
life  of  intelligent  love — a  life  of  moral  freedom,  that  guides 
itself,  not  by  instinct  or  blind  impulse,  but  by  laws,  ordinan- 
ces, and  arrangements  of  wisdom  and  prudence  (Eph.,  i.,  8), 
it  has  in  this  flock  a  system  of  action,  a  scheme  or  settled 
mode  of  operation  ;  and  that  mode  is  one  which  prescribes 
to  the  entire  flock  a  variety  of  labors  and  exertions,  according 
to  their  respective  measures  of  ability.  To  this  flock,  in- 
cluding their  pastor,  the  words  of  St.  Paul  (Rom.,  xii.,  6, 
7,  8)  are  applicable  :  "  Having  then  gifts,  differing  accord- 
ing to  the  grace  that  is  given  to  us,  whether  prophecy,  let  us 
prophesy  according  to  the  proportion  of  faith ;  or  ministry, 
let  us  wait  on  our  ministering  :  or  he  that  teacheth,  on  teach- 
ing :  or  he  that  exhorteth,  on  exhortation  :  he  that  giveth, 


328  GENERAL   ACTIVITY 

let  him  do  it  with,  simplicity ;  he  that  ruleth,  with  diligence  ; 
he  that  showeth  mercy,  with  cheerfulness."  This  flock,  in 
a  word,  is  a  company  of  souls  whom  the  Lord  has  gathered 
to  himself  as  so  many  instruments  through  which  his  own 
mighty  life  of  recovering  and  saving  virtue  may  flow  forth 
into  the  world,  into  the  parts  nearest  in  the  first  place,  and 
then  more  remotely.  And  now  that  they  have  received  a 
new  and  fresh  baptism  of  the  divine  influence,  what  move- 
ments of  it  must  there  be  from  within  themselves  outward 
upon  others  who  are  round  about  them  ?  The  pastor  is  over- 
seer and  director  of  these  movements,  and  in  them  all  his  act- 
ivity, directly  or  indirectly,  reveals  itself,  controlling,  correct- 
ing, animating,  restraining,  regulating  all,  according  as  par- 
ticular needs  and  exigences  may  require,in  the  exercise  of  that 
authority  and  control  which  pertain  to  his  office  as  pastor. 
This  flock,  with  their  pastor,  as,  at  the  same  time,  ruler  and 
chief  worker,  is  an  organized  association,  endued  with  power 
from  above,  which  it  is  exerting  in  various  forms  and  through 
all  its  officers  and  members,  for  the  increase  of  itself  and  of 
the  Church,  by  acquisitions  from  the  world  :  It  is,  in  short, 
a  true  Christian  and  apostolical  system  of  agency  for  recov- 
ering and  saving  mankind  in  active  and  energetic  operation  ; 
all  the  parts  fulfilling  their  proper  functions,  and  contributing 
to  the  efficiency  and  influence  of  the  whole.  Many  confer- 
ences are  held,  many  plans  are  devised,  many  works  are  car- 
ried on,  all  having  the  same  purpose,  the  furtherance  of  the 
Gospel,  the  diffusion  of  the  Christian  life  and  spirit,  and  all 
under  the  superintendence  and.  direction  of  the  pastor. 

We  have  thus  delineated  what  appears  to  us  to  be  in  gen- 
eral (not  universally,  nor  without  variations,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances, in  every  case)  a  suitable  course  as  to  the  care  of 
souls,  in  its  application,  first,  to  a  state  of  special  declension, 
and  then  to  a  state  of  special  interest  in  the  religious  life  of 
the  flock  :  Now  this  latter  state  is  but  the  true,  the  normal 


STABILITY.  329 

state  of  the  flock — a  state  in  which  the  flock  should  remain, 
advancing  more  and  more,  exerting  itself  more  and  more  to 
the  last ;  and  it  can  not  but  be  that  the  pastor,  if  he  retains 
his  just  state  and  position,  should  be  always  seeking  to  keep 
his  flock  in  theirs,  and  to  this  end  always  exercising  appro- 
priately the  care  of  souls  :  He  will  not  vary  his  pastoral  ac- 
tivity on  the  principle  that  a  change,  another  declension,  is,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  to  take  place  ;  he  will  rather  proceed  on 
the  opposite  principle,  so  arranging  his  plans,  so  pursuing  his 
measures,  so  adapting  his  modes  of  influence  and  operation, 
direct  and  indirect — in  a  word,  so  ordering  and  exercising  the 
work  of  the  ministry  in  all  its  parts  as  to  make  it  instrument- 
al, if  possible,  of  perpetuating  and  promoting  the  existing  state 
of  his  flock.  And  as,  from  time  to  time,  he  strives  to  renew, 
to  consolidate  (Qedaiav  -nouladai)  his  vocation  as  a  pastor,  so 
he  will  have  recourse  to  means  for  confirming,  establishing 
his  flock  in  that  grace,  that  spiritual  prosperity  in  which  it  now 
finds  itself:  In  order  to  this,  he  will  probably  appoint  days 
for  special  prayer  and  fasting,  and  will  devote  much  thought 
and  time  to  self-preparation  for  the  proper  observance  of  them  : 
He  will  not  allow  himself  to  look  forward  to  another  de- 
clension, except  to  pray  and  strive  against  it,  and,  by  every 
means  he  can  legitimately  use,  to  prevent  its  occurrence,  to 
render  its  occurrence  a  moral  impossibility  :  He  will  feel  that 
a  declension  would  be  an  iniquity,  an  enormity ;  that  it  can 
not  come  but  by  means  of  sin  ;  that  Heaven  is  against  it ; 
that  if  it  does  come,  a  curse  will  come  with  it;  and  that  if  its 
futurition  does,  indeed,  enter  into  the  divine  plan,  it  does  so 
only  because,  according  to  that  plan,  one  evil  thing  shall  be 
punished  by  another,  in  order  to  prevent  greater  evil  on  the 
whole.] 


PART   FOURTH. 

ADMINISTRATIVE   OR  OFFICIAL  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DISCIPLINE.* 

THIS  word  is  almost  without  meaning  in  our  ecclesiastical 
institutions,  or,  rather,  in  the  character  which  the  times  have 
given  them.  Discipline  is  to  ecclesiastical  order  what  police 
is  to  civil  order ;  but  the  citizen,  whether  he  will  or  not,  is 
subject  to  the  law  :  Not  thus  with  a  member  of  the  Church  ; 
and  since  the  law  of  the  Church  has  no  longer  the  sanction 
of  opinion,  we  may  say  that  it  is  law  no  longer.  The  exe- 
cution of  disciplinary  penalties  has  no  longer  a  civil  guaran- 
tee or  external  consequences.  Thus  the  external  sanction 
supplies  nothing  to  the  internal ;  in  a  word,  discipline  has 
nothing  to  rest  upon.  Nothing  of  discipline  remains  except 
what  the  pastor,  as  an  individual,  exercises,  and  what  oth- 
ers, as  individuals,  are  willing  to  accept ;  and  we  must,  in- 
deed, allow,  that  what  little  remains  in  these  circumstances 
of  complete  freedom  from  compulsion  is  excellent  in  propor- 
tion as  it  is  small. 

We  can  not  but  call  the  attention  of  ministers  to  a  peril, 
of  which  some  among  them  have  no  suspicion.  The  re- 
monstrances or  reproofs  which  are  a  part  of  pastoral  disci- 
pline are  much  more  easily  dispensed  to  the  poor  and  the 
*  See  BENGEL  :  Pensees,  §  36. 


DISCIPLINE.  331 

weak  than  to  the  rich  and  great.  We  are  tempted  to  bear 
heavily  on  some  that  we  may  press  lightly  on  others.  This 
is  not  equal.  And  the  pastor  is  worthy  of  his  mission  only 
when  he  makes  his  authority  to  be  felt  alike  by  all  souls, 
which  to  him  are  no  more  than  souls.  We  must  not  hence 
conclude,  however,  that  no  difference  should  be  observed  as  to 
manner  and  form.  The  same  means  have  a  different  influ- 
ence, according  to  the  persons  to  which  they  are  applied,  and, 
with  the  design  of  maintaining  equality,  we  may  treat  souls 
with  much  inequality. 

Excommunication,  properly  speaking,  can  have  no  place  in 
a  Church  which  is  strictly  the  Church  of  every  one.  The 
communicants  themselves  are  the  only  judges.  They  must 
take  care  for  themselves  that  they  do  not  eat  and  drink  con- 
demnation to  themselves  at  the  table  of  Jesus  Christ.  When 
the  Church  belongs  to  the  state,  and  when  the  severities  of 
discipline  are  by  general  consent  dispensed  with,  we  can  not 
dream  of  exercising  it,  at  least  of  restoring  it  in  its  essential 
character,  which  is  possible  only  in  another  state  of  things. 
The  duty  of  the  pastor  is  both  to  debar  from  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, by  private  representations,  the  persons  whom  he  may 
judge  unprepared  to  partake  of  this  sacred  repast  without 
danger,  and  to  admonish  them  collectively  from  the  high 
place  of  the  pulpit.  The  same  rule,  and  no  other,  applies  to 
the  officials. 


332  RELIGIOUS    PARTIES. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CONDUCT   TOWARD  DIFFERENT  RELIGIOUS   PARTIES. 

THE  first  rule  as  to  the  pastor's  conduct  toward  the  relig- 
ious parties  which  he  may  find  in  his  parish,  whether  they 
be  in  a  state  of  simple  parties,  or  whether  they  form  com- 
munities, is  to  preach  the  Gospel  with  sufficient  simplicity, 
cordiality,  and  purity,  to  draw  true  hearts  and  spirits  toward 
the  form  of  Christian  doctrine  as  presented  in  the  Gospel. 
Such  a  position  admonishes  the  pastor  to  be,  as  far  as  possible, 
a  man  of  pure  and  transparent  spirit.  There  are  few  cases, 
perhaps  there  are  none,  in  which  the  pulpit  should  be  polem- 
ical. Error  flees  before  truth,  as  darkness  before  the  light 
of  day.  Indeed,  darkness  is  nothing  ;  light  alone  is  some- 
thing. Speak  the  truth — this  is  filling  a  void ;  error  is  the 
absence  of  truth.  Let  us  have  little  confidence  in  negative 
means :  Let  us  not  think  that  we  have  been  building  be- 
cause we  have  been  demolishing,  or  that  we  have  edified  be- 
cause we  have  confuted.  The  first,  most  natural,  and  often 
only  effect  of  such  victories  is  the  impatience  and  irritation  of 
the  conquered  party.  Truth  is  a  virtue,  a  power  ;  we  have 
done  every  thing  when  we  have  caused  it  to  be  felt.  Vir- 
tutem  viderent.* 

We  must  give  to  our  parishioners  an  example  of  indulgence 
and  equity,  and  while,  not  by  reasoning,  but  by  facts,  we 
make  them  sensible  of  the  advantage  which  they  have  by  be- 
longing to  our  communion  rather  than  to  another,  teach  them 
to  love  the  truth  more  than  the  Church,  and  the  image  of 
Christ  more  than  their  own  preferences.  But,  doubtless,  the 
first  rule  we  have  given  is  sufficient  to  secure  this,  and  to 
*  "Let  them  see  virtue." — PERSE,  Sat.,  iii.,  ver.  38. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    PEOSELYTISM.  333 

secure,  also,  as  benevolent  and  intimate  relations  with  the 
dissidents*  (I  use  this  word  in  a  very  general  sense)  as  is 
compatible  with  the  religious  sympathy  between  them  and 
us.  Any  thing  beyond  this,  that  is  to  say,  any  thing  which 
may  induce  the  belief  that  we  are  not  really  of  our  own  par- 
ty, and,  so  to  speak,  of  our  opinion  ;  any  thing  which  might 
give  rise  to  the  supposition  that,  under  the  pretense  of  belong- 
ing to  one  communion,  we  at  heart  belong  to  another,  and 
that  we  are  hindered  from  joining  another  only  by  consider- 
ations of  personal  interest  or  the  fear  of  man,  would  be  a 
scandal  to  our  flock,  and  would  compromise  our  ministry. 

Taking  the  word  proselytism  in  the  most  general  sense,  it 
would  be  almost  ridiculous  to  ask  whether  proselytism  is  per- 
mitted to  pastors ;  which,  to  tell  the  truth,  is  their  essential 
duty  and  their  whole  work.  But,  adhering  to  the  most  gen- 
eral sense  of  the  word,  it  may  be  asked  whether  there  are 
not  certain  rules  to  be  observed — a  certain  measure  to  be 
kept ;  and  then  it  may  be  inquired  whether  this  proselytism, 
whose  object  is  to  transfer  an  individual  from  one  sect  to  an- 
other, is  lawful  and  commendable. 

To  begin  with  the  second  question,  let  us  say  that  conver- 
sion from  one  sect  to  another  (ecclesiastical  proselytism)  never 
should  be  the  immediate  object  of  the  ministry,  nor  of  any 
reasonable  Christian.  But  then  we  can  not  deny  that  when 
we  labor  to  make  a  man  a  Christian,  we  labor  to  make  him 
one  in  the  sense  in  which  we  ourselves  are  Christians ;  and 
we  must  not  dissemble  this  fact,  either  to  ourselves  or  others. 
A  man  gained  to  our  doctrine  by  our  teaching  may  not  feel 
himself  obliged  to  forsake  his  own  communion  ;  that  is,  form- 
ally to  renounce  it,  in  order  to  unite  himself  to  ours.  If  he 
is  under  a  simple  delusion,  we  must  wait  patiently  until  more 
light  shall  dissipate  it.  If  the  fear  of  man  controls  him,  we 
must  not  connive  at  it,  and  we  must  express  ourselves  frank- 
ly on  this  subject,  but  without  pressing  the  neophyte  to  take 
*  See  BENOKL  :  Pcnsees  Pastorales,  $  41  et  42. 


334  SPIRITUAL    PROSELYTISM. 

the  step  to  which  he  is  repugnant.  By  constantly  enlighten- 
ing his  conscience,  we  shall, by  degrees,  create  in  him  an  im- 
perative desire  for  this  act  of  self-enfranchisement. 

As  to  spiritual  proselytism,  whose  end  is  to  lead  men  to 
God,  we  agree  with  St.  Paul,  that  we  must  "  be  instant  in 
season  and  out  of  season"  (2  Tim.,  iv.,  2),  but  certainly  not 
unseasonably.  Rudeness  and  impetuosity  are  never  in  sea- 
son, and  when  we  do  not  limit  ourselves  to  waiting  for  occa- 
sions or  procuring  them,  but  create  them,  or,  rather,  do  with- 
out them  altogether,  it  is  hard  for  us  not  to  be  rude  and  im- 
petuous, and  consequently  rather  irritating  than  persuasive. 
But  if  we  do  not  think  it  our  duty  to  pay  any  attention  to 
propriety  in  this  matter,  then  we  do  not  go  as  far  as  we 
should  :  We  should  stop  passengers  in  the  streets,  we  should 
invade  their  dwellings  ;  introduce,  to  the  exclusion  of  every 
thing  else,  the  question  of  salvation  at  all  times,  and  con- 
stantly offend  to  his  face  every  human  being.  I  think  that 
to  watch  for  occasions,  to  make  good  use  of  them,  to  perfect 
our  work,  is  enough  to  occupy  all  our  time,  and  that,  in  short, 
there  is  a  greater  and  more  extended  effect  in  waiting  in  this 
way  than  in  so  many  blows  dealt  right  and  left  without  dis- 
crimination or  appropriateness.  The  longer  we  live,  the 
more  we  think,  with  St.  Martin,  that  "  noise  does  no  good, 
and  that  good  is  done  without  noise." 

We  must  not  despise  the  waters  of  Siloam,  that  go  softly. 
— Isaiah,  viii.,  6.  We  must,  then,  neither  run  a  venture, 
"  nor  beat  the  air." — 1  Cor.,  ix.,  26.  But  with  no  less  care 
should  we  avoid  a  circuitous  manner  of  approaching  religious 
subjects,  of  leading  the  conversation  on  to  the  subject  we 
have  in  view.  There  may  be  in  this  an  honest  adroitness, 
but  les  ruses  de  guerre  have  never  availed  any  thing.  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  apostles  never  made  use  of  them  :  They  act- 
ed with  simplicity  ;  and  in  this  respect,  as  well  as  others, 
we  should  take  them  for  models. 


RELATIONS  OF   ECCLESIASTICS   AMONG  THEMSELVES.    335 


CHAPTER  III. 

EELATIONS    OF  ECCLESIASTICS  AMONG   THEMSELVES. 

WE  may  distinguish  the  relations  between  clerical  brethren, 
suffragans,  and  colleagues. 

Without  in  the  least  degree  recommending  V esprit  de  corps, 
or  the  spirit  of  caste,  we  may  recommend,  from  regard  to  the 
interest  of  the  ministry  and  of  the  Church,  good  fellowship 
and  frequent  intercourse  between  members  of  the  same  cler- 
ical body.  If  the  apostle  St.  Paul  had  a  lively  sense  of  what- 
ever affected  the  heart  or  external  condition  of  his  disciples, 
he  had  such  a  sense,  in  a  peculiar  degree,  in  respect  to  what 
concerned  his  companions  in  labor.  We  must  be  profited  by 
others,  and  be  profitable  to  others  ;  honor  one  another  by  mu- 
tual confidence  ;  edify  one  another  by  the  spirit  of  peace,  def- 
erence, and  frankness,  whether  in  common  assemblies  or  in 
private  interviews  ;  be  serious  in  familiarity,  and  suffer  not 
confraternity  to  degenerate  into  comradism  ;*  be  ready  to  ex- 
ercise an  honorable  hospitality  toward  one  another;  relieve 
the  wants  of  a  brother  who  is  not  in  good  circumstances,  and 
do  not  leave  to  others  all  the  care  and  all  the  honor  of  pro- 
viding for  his  necessities  ;  confer  together  as  much  as  we  can 
in  order  to  profit  by  each  other's  experience  ;  lastly,  main- 
tain among  ourselves  as  much  unity  of  principle,  and  even 
external  unity,  as  may  naturally  consist  with  sincerity  and 
liberty. 

Suffragans. — The  position  of  the  suffragan  in  our  country 
is  not  generally  difficult.     It  may  not,  however,  be  superflu- 
ous to  indicate  to  young  ministers  some  principles  by  which 
they  should  be  directed.     The  suffragan  minister  is  not  an 
*  French :  Camaraderie. 


336  SUFFRAGANS. 

operative,  a  commissioner,  or  a  clerk  ;  in  a  certain  sphere  he 
acts  with  sovereignty  ;  he  must,  therefore,  reserve  to  himself 
an  inviolable  sphere  of  independence  :  But  in  every  thing 
which  does  not  pertain  to  that  sphere  he  should  regard  him- 
self as  subordinate  to  the  will  of  the  titular  pastor — at  least, 
remember  that  office  has  not  yet  been  conferred  on  him.  In 
cases  in  which  the  pastor  does  not  wish  to  avail  himself  of 
his  right,  and  in  cases  in  which  the  suffragan  has  to  decide  for 
himself,  he  ought  to  consult  his  elder,  hear  him  with  earnest 
attention  —  being  well  persuaded  that  experience  is  some- 
thing; that  advice,  which  at  first  was  very  surprising,  has 
often,  in  the  end,  appeared  no  less  natural  than  judicious, 
and  that  opinions  which  we  thought  could  never  be  disputed, 
have,  in  the  end,  appeared  to  be  absurd  and  ridiculous.  The 
young  minister,  if  he  is  wise,  will  innovate  but  little.  In 
general,  he  will  not  think  it  sufficient  that  a  change  would 
be  useful ;  he  must  look  upon  it  as  necessary.  He  will  not 
interfere,  directly  or  indirectly,  with  the  pastor's  ministerial 
operations ;  but  will,  in  some  way,  continue  what  has  been 
begun,  and  not  mix  with  an  impulse  which  has  been  given, 
another  impulse  which,  though  not  incongenial,  yet  merely 
because  it  is  different,  may  give  trouble  of  mind,  and  break 
the  unity  and  solidity  of  the  work.  He  will  be  moderate  in 
his  preaching — allowing  himself  few  local  allusions,  and  feel- 
ing it  to  be  his  duty  to  unite  modesty  with  authority. 

/ 

If  it  is  "  a  good  and  a  pleasant  thing  for  brethren  to  dwell 
together  in  unity"  (Ps.  cxxxiii.,  1),  it  is  especially  good  and 
pleasant  for  those  who,  in  the  midst  of  the  same  flock,  exer- 
cise the  ministry  of  reconciliation.  This  unity  is  not  so  com- 
mon, nor  so  perfect  where  it  does  exist,  as  we  might  hope 
and  expect  it  to  be.  It  is  not  necessary  to  assign  the  reasons 
of  this,  nor  to  insist  on  the  duty  of  restoring  and  perfecting 
this  unity,  since  it  is  evident  that  nothing  more  seriously  dis- 
credits the  ministry  and  impairs  its  moral  power  than  the 


COLLEAGUES.  337 

misunderstanding  of  pastors.  Here  is  a  touchstone  for  more 
than  one  kind  of  Christianity  which  is  thought  to  be  very 
pure.  As  long  as  we  were  alone,  we  thought  we  were  doing 
good  purely  from  love  to  it,  so  /that  we  said  within  ourselves, 
terar  dum  prosim.*  But  when  we  have  seen  others  rival- 
ing and  surpassing  us,  and  have  perceived  with  consternation 
that  we  preferred  that  good  should  not  be  done  at  all  than 
done  by  others  at  the  great  expense  of  our  vanity  ;  when  we 
are  surprised  to  find  ourselves  grieved  by  their  blessings,  and 
rejoice  at  their  injudicious  measures  and  their  bad  success, 
then  we  understand  whether,  in  the  good  which  we  per- 
formed, we  most  loved  the  good  itself  or  the  glory  of  perform- 
ing it.  Many  ministers  have  thus  made  a  deeply  humilia- 
ting discovery,  which  should  have  led  them  to  see  that  the 
foundation  qf  their  Christianity  and  of  th«ir  ministry  was  a 
deplorable  weakness.-  Perhaps  all  other  causes  of  disunion 
among  colleagues  (encroachments,  jealousy  of  temporal  ad- 
vantages, discord  among  the  families  of  pastors  when  the 
pastors  themselves  were  well-disposed  to  each  other;  lastly, 
difference  as  to  opinion  and  plan  of  conduct) — perhaps  all 
these  causes  of  alienation  "are  of  small  moment  compared 
with  that  which  pertains  to  professional  jealousy.  But  they 
must  all  be  recognized,  and,  with  the  greatest  care,  avoided 
or  prevented.  We  especially  recommend  frankness  at  the 
beginning  of  collegiate  relations.  Discontent  and  vexation 
may  make  us  frank  enough  afterward,  but  to  no  purpose. 
Frankness  established  as  a  law  at  the  outset,  before  all  col- 
lision, will  engender  mutual  confidence,  and,  better  than  all 
other  means,  prevent  unpleasant  and  unedifying  conflicts. 
The  habit  of  praying  for  one  another  in  secret  with  care  and 
particularity  will  be  most  appropriate  to  quench  the  fire  of 
jealousy  and  resentment.  This  is  the  first  of  our  duties  lo 
one  another.f 

*  "  Let  me  be  crushed,  if  I  may  but  be  useful."— Edit. 
t  I  translate  here,  without  comment,  some  rules  gtven  by  Glaus 
P 


338  COLLEAGUES. 

Harms.  Some  things  in  them  certainly  deserve  to  be  remembered. 
The  most  minute  among  them  may  give  important  hints. 

"  Meide  den  Bekannten  von  fruherer  Zeit."  (Avoid  the  acquaint- 
ances of  former  days.) 

"  Tritt  nicht  in  das  Verhaeltniss  des  Du  und  Du."  (Form  no  very 
familiar  associations.) 

"  Lass  dir  nicht  zu  viele  Verbindlichkeiten  auflegen."  (Do  not  put 
yourself  under  too  many  obligations.) 

"  Fange  nicht  mit  zu  heisser  Freundschaft  an."  (Do  not  hastily 
form  too  warm  friendships.) 

"Verschaffe  dir  die  klarste  Kenntniss  von  alien  Beykommenhei- 
ten."  (Acquaint  yourself  most  exactly  with  whatever  may  aid  you.) 

"  Binnen  Jahr  und  Tag  nimm  keine  ehrbliche  Veraenderung  vor." 
(Let  some  time  pass  before  you  make  important  changes.) 

"  Gehe  nicht  auf  Verdunkelung  deines  Collegen  aus."  (Do  not 
seek  to  eclipse  your  colleague.) 

"  Schlage  dich  nicht  zu  seiner  Gegenparthei."  (Do  not  join  your- 
self to  those  who  are  opposed  to  him.)  See  the  foregoing  page. 

"  Nimm  Weib,  Kinder,  und  Gesind  in  acht."  (Look  well  to  your 
wife,  children,  and  servants.) 

"  Scheue  die  Billets."    (Avoid  running  up  bills.) 

"  Lieber  als  Hammer  sey  du  Ambos."  (Be  rather  the  anvil  than 
the  hammer.) — HARMS,'  Pastorallhedogie,  tome  iii.,  p.  168. 

1  The  originality  or  expression  in  the  German  often  adds  to  the  force  of  these 
counsels  of  Claus  Harms.  M.  Vinet  quotes  them  in  German.  We  have  thought  it 
best  to  give  the  translation,  though  it  is  impossible,  in  doing  so,  not  to  impair  their 
force. 


RELATIONS    TO    AUTHORITIES.  339 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    PASTOR   IN    HIS    RELATIONS    TO   AUTHORITIES.* 

FIRST,  to  ecclesiastical  authority,  of  which  the  pastor  is  a 
partaker.  It  is  his  duty  .to  give  his  aid  diligently  at  the  as- 
semblies of  his  order,  to  take  a  serious  part  in  their  delibera- 
tions, and  to  contribute,  according  to  his  ability,  in  rendering 
them  serious. 

We  should  beware  of  discussing  the  small  questions  which 
abound  in  these  assemblies  with  the  amplitude,  gravity,  and 
vivacity  which  belong  only  to  great  ones.  There  is  danger,  in 
conferences  composed  of  ecclesiastics,  of  forming  the  habit  of 
treating  mere  nothings  with  gravity,  and  of  striving  about 
distinctions  of  words.  The  esprit  de  corps  is  more  natural 
in  these  assemblies  than  in  any  others  ;  and  the  esprit  clkri- 
cal,  a  singular  thing,  finds  here  the  more  aliment  in  propor- 
tion as  the  questions  which  are  discussed  are  less  directly  and 
less  seriously  religious.  We  must  learn,  especially  if  we  are 
young,  how  to  give  place  to  time  ;  and  that  very  often  the 
conservation  of  peace  is  of  more  value  than  all  the  advanta- 
ges which  may  result  from  the  triumph  of  our  opinion. 

Mutual  discipline  is  a  delicate  matter.  .  In  all  ecclesiastic- 
al constitutions  it  is  laid  down  as  a  principle,  but  I  should 
be  happy  to  know  where  it  is  seriously  practiced.  It  extends, 
in  its  just  idea,  from  advice  and  admonition  to  the  most  pe- 
nal, most  positive,  and  most  severe  measures.  But  in  the 
majority  of  ecclesiastical  bodies  it  is  never  realized,  except  in 
that  last  and  severe  extremity,  in  which  we  may  say  it  has 
small  moral  efficacy.  I  know  not  how  far  it  may  depend  on 

*  See  BENOEL  :  Pensees,  §  44.  It  is  inserted  in  the  Appendix, 
note  L,  Lea  Pensces  de  Bengel,  often  cited  in  this  course. 


340  ECCLESIASTICAL    AUTHORITY. 

the  jures*  to  raise  above  its  actual  level  the  beautiful  insti- 
tution of  church  visits;  but  I  think  that  whatever  can  be 
done  to  encourage  mutual  frankness  should  be  put  in  requisi- 
tion both  by  the  pastor  who  visits  a  church  and  by  him  who 
governs  it.  We  are  all,  however,  thejures  and  others,  bound 
to  confer  with  one  another  in  a  charitable  and  humble  spirit 
as  to  what  may  be  respectively  useful  to  us,  and  of  what,  very 
often,  we  ourselves  are  ignorant,  to  our  great  disadvantage, 
though  it  is  known  to  all  the  world  besides. 

In  our  relations  to  the  civil  or  municipal  authority,  to  the 
state  and  the  community,  let  us  never  forget  that  we  are 
something  more  than  functionaries  of  the  republic,  and  that 
we  are  by  no  means  amenable  to  the  magistrate  as  to  what 
concerns  the  essential  purpose  of  our  ministry — the  teaching 
of  the  truth.  But  let  us  beware  of  replacing  authority  by 
pride,  and  let  us  carefully  shun  that  bad  way  into  which  so 
many  ministers  fall,  of  affecting,  in  their  relations  to  the  au- 
thority, a  spirit  of  discontent,  of  censure,  and  of  grumbling. 
It  would  be  extremely  unhappy  if  the  people  should  learn  of 
us  what  so  many  learn  from  them,  disapprobation  a  priori, 
the  anticipation  of  blame  as  to  every  thing  in  which  power 
is  to  be  recognized.  Servility  is  not  more  unworthy  of  our 
characteir  than  this  ridiculous  hostility.  Besides,  our  rela- 
tions to  the  political  authority  have  nothing  of  politics.  We 
are,  in  a  certain  sense,  amenable  to  the  state  ;  but  we  are 
not  state  officers,  and  the  business  of  the  state  is  not  ours. 
In  a  time  of  political  fermentation  or  revolution,  we  have  no 
other  mission  than  that  of  tranquillizing  the  minds  of  men 
by  proposing  to  them  those  great  truths  which,  though  they 
do  not  nullify  worldly  interests,  at  least  subordinate  all  our 
proceedings  to  the  grand  interest  of  the  soul  and  of  eternity. 

*  The  juris  in  the  established  Church  of  the  Canton  de  Vaud  are 
inspectors  appointed  by  the  classes,  or  pastoral  assemblies,  to  take 
the  oversight  of  a  certain  number  of  parishes,  and  charged  to  visit 
them  periodically. — Edit. 


CIVIL    AUTHORITY.  341 

I  do  not  mean  that  the  pastor  should  feign  himself  ignorant 
of  the  occupations,  the  dangers,  the  fears,  the  prospects  of  the 
country  ;  but  .the  contests  of  opinion  do  not  concern  him  ;  he 
has  no  part  to  take  but  that  of  obedience  to  the  law  as  long 
as  the  law  exists,  and,  in  all  cases,  the  part  of  the  country 
and  of  national  independence.  The  occasions  are  very  rare 
on  which  the  pulpit  may  address  citizens  as  such,  and  preach 
to  them  on  the  actual  duties  which  pertain  to  them  in  this 
character. 

In  general,  we  think  we  ought  to  counsel  ecclesiastics,  es- 
pecially such  as  have  the  care  of  souls,  to  hold  no  place  in 
political  or  municipal  bodies.  We  have  examined  this  point 
elsewhere. 

In  the  administrative  part  of  his  functions,  the  pastor 
should  leave  nothing  to  be  desired  in  respect  to  exactitude 
and  punctuality.  The  less  of  taste  he  has  for  those  details 
for  which  a  man  of  his  profession  is  bound,  in  fact,  to  have 
no  taste,  the  more  should  he  guard  himself  against  either  de- 
laying or  neglecting  any  thing ;  and  it  is  his  duty  to  study 
carefully,  in  their  letter  and  in  their  spirit,  all  those  institu- 
tions, all  those  laws  and  regulations  which  have  any  relation 
to  the  exercise  of  his  functions.  A  pastor  who  would  be 
useful,  though  in  a  spiritual  respect  only,  should  have  exacl; 
knowledge  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  his  country,  his 
people,  and  whatever,  even  in  a  material  point  of  view,  is 
important  to  the  welfare  of  society  and  each  of  the  classes 
which  compose  it. 

Something  might  be  added  in  relation  to  the  laws,  to  the 
execution  of  which  the  pastor  should  lend  his  influence,  and 
to  the  measures  which  he  should  use  to  that  end. 


APPENDIX. 


NOTE  A,  page  25. 
The  Nature  of  the  Priest's  Office. 

"  THE  priesthood,  it  is  true,  is  accomplished  on  earth,  but  is,  never- 
theless, justly  placed  in  the  rank  of  celestial  things.  In  fact,  no  man, 
nor  angel,  nor  archangel,  nor  created  power,  but  the  Paraclete  him- 
self, has  instituted  this  office,  and  chosen  beings  yet  living  in  the 
flesh  to  fulfill  the  ministry  of  angels.  Hence,  the  priest,  regarding 
himself  as  established  in  heaven,  even  among  the  superior  powers 
there,  ought  to  be  as  pure  as  they.  The  economy  which  preceded 
that  of  grace  was  doubtless  venerable  and  full  of  holy  dread :  Let  us 
bring  before  our  minds  those  precious  stones  on  the  priest's  breast- 
plate and  shoulders ;  that  mitre,  that  tunic,  those  golden  plates,  that 
holy  of  holies,  that  profound  silence  in  the  inner  temple.  And  yet, 
comparing  all  these  things  with  those  of  the  Gospel,  their  glory  is 
effaced — they  appear  mean.  When  you  contemplate  the  Lord  him- 
self immolated  and  lying  before  you,  the  priest  bent  over  the  victim, 
and  praying  for  all,  and  all  sprinkled  with  most  precious  blood,  be- 
lieve ye  that  ye  are  yet  among  men?  believe  ye  that  ye  are  on  the 
earth  1  Are  ye  not  borne  away  suddenly  to  heaven  1  and  then,  away 
from  every  carnal  thought,  behold  ye  not  heavenly  things  directly, 
and  in  their  pureness  1  Who,  unless  he  be  profoundly  insensate,  can 
disregard  so  awful  a  mystery  T  And  know  ye  not  that  no  soul  of 
man  could  ever  bear  the  fire  of  this  sacrifice ;  that  it  would  devour  all 
who  should  approach  it,  unless  God  himself  should  intervene  with 
the  powerful  support  of  his  grace  1  Represent  to  yourselves  the  man 


344  APPENDIX. 

who  yet,  under  the  bondage  of  flesh  and  blood,  personally  approaches 
this  immortal  and  most  blessed  Being,  then  may  ye  understand  per- 
fectly what  honor  the  Holy  Spirit  has  vouchsafed  to  the  Driest,  by 
whom  these  things,  and  others,  too,  in  no  respect  inferior  to  them, 
are  accomplished." — CHBYBOSTOM,  De  Sacerdotio,  lib.  iii.,  c.  iv. 


NOTE  B,  page  27. 
The  Mystery  of  Preaching. 

"  PREACHING  is  a  mystery  not  less  awful  and  terrible  than  that  of  the 
Eucharist.  It  appears  to  me  that  preaching  is  much  more  awful ; 
for  it  is  that  by  which  sonls  are  begotten  and  quickened  unto  God , 
whereas  by  the  Eucharist  they  are  only  nourished,  or,  to  speak  more 
correctly,  healed.  It  is  only  by  great  self-renunciation  that  we  can 
render  ourselves  worthy  of  this  office  ;  and  after  having  disciplined 
our  heart  to  desire  nothing  in  this  world,  we  must  discipline  our 
tongue  to  perfect  silence,  which,  as  I  understand  it,  is  the  highest 
perfection  to  which  a  virtuous  man  attains  :  Only  thus  can  it  be  pre- 
pared to  speak  the  word  of  God  in  public,  without  any  thought  either 
of  ourselves  or  others — which  in  prayer  we  can  not  do;  for,  from 
prayer  performed  according  to  God's  will,  exhortation  or  preaching 
is  not  to  be  altogether  separated.  And,  for  my  part,  I  had  rather  say 
a  hundred  masses  than  preach  once.  We  are  alone  at  the  altar ;  but 
in  the  pulpit  we  preach  to  a  public  assembly,  where  we  ought  to  fear 
offending  God  more  than  elsewhere,  unless  we  have  previously  la- 
bored for  a  long  time  to  mortify  our  spirit,  and  that  pruriency  which 
every  one  has  to  know  many  fine  things,  which  is  the  greatest  tempt- 
ation that  remains  to  us  from  the  sin  of  Adam."— SAINT  CYRAN  (Let- 
tre  xxxi.),  a  M .  Le  Rebour*. 


APPEXDIX.  345 

NOTE  C,  page  47. 
On  the  speedy  Assumption  of  the  Personal  Authority  of  the  Priest. 

"  WHILE  inspired  men  thus  preached  Christ  in  entire  simplicity, 
and  added  to  this  preaching  admonition  and  encouragement,  Chris- 
tians edified  themselves  in  their  assemblies  by  sacred  songs  and  pious 
conversation,  and  by  listening  to  those  from  among  themselves  who 
felt  constrained  to  preach.  Those  who  were  under  this  impulse  were 
most  frequently  elders,  whom  the  assemblies  chose  for  the  very  rea- 
son that  they  had  been  previously  chosen  to  this  work.  Other  be- 
lievers, who  did  not  remain  always  in  the  community,  labored  thns 
after  the  manner  of  the  apostles — so  that  from  the  beginning  there 
was  a  teaching  class,  although  their  separation  to  this  work  took 
olace  gradually.  We  find  this  class  already  in  the  second  and  third 
generations  of  believers — that  is,  as  early  as  the  second  century ;  so 
that  the  distinction  between  the  believers  and  ministers  in  a  com- 
munity, or,  to  use  the  Greek  expression,  between  the  clergy  and  laity, 
was  established. 

"  NOTE. — The  Apostle  Peter,  moreover,  under  the  word  n\i)pos,  com- 
prehends, in  the  spirit  of  Judaism,  the  people  of  God  or  Christians  (1 
Pet.,  v.,3) ;  the  elders,  however,  were  soon  designated  by  this  name, 
perhaps  because  they  were  chosen  by  lot,  which  they  supposed  to  be 
a  divine  direction ;  perhaps  because,  as  Jerome  profoundly  explains 
(Ep.  ii.,  ad  Nepot.),  God  had  made  himself  the  lot — that  is  to  say,  the 
heritage  of  the  Levites ;  and  because,  in  the  Christian  Church,  the 
ecclesiastics  occupied  the  place  of  the  Levites  ;  lastly,  perhaps,  be- 
cause they  are  in  a  peculiar  manner  themselves  the  property  of  God. 
Immediately  after  the  apostolic  age,  all  those  who  were  consecrated 
to  the  service  of  the  Church,  whether  employed  as  teachers,  or  in  any 
other  office,  were  entitled  K\t)putol,  and  other  Christians  \CUKOI  (per- 
taining to  the  people),  or  /Siururoi  (seculares,  pertaining  to  common 
life),  and  iSicSrcu  (privati),  or  KaroviKoi  (a  word  taken  in  a  different 
sense  from  that  which  prevailed  at  a  later  period,  and  coming  from 
KCU>£V,  a  list  of  the  members  of  the  community).  The  earliest  proof 
we  have  of  this  is  the  following  passage  of  Clemens  Romanus,  N.  40 

P  2 


346  APPENDIX. 

(assuming  the  authenticity  of  this  letter) :  KO!  Aevfras  ISlcu  Sicutovttu 
MinuTM,  &  Aatxbs  &v6pwiros  rois  \cuKols  trposrdyfjMffiv  SfStrcu.  He  here 
exhorts  to  order,  in  performing  ecclesiastical  rites,  and  subordinates 
the  itpt7s  to  the  apxitptvs.  The  distinction  is  yet  more  exact  in  the 
epistle  attributed  to  his  contemporary  Ignatius,  who,  we  know,  even 
at  that  time,  professed  hierarchical  principles.  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria assures  us  that  this  distinction  had  begun  to  reveal  itself  as 
early  as  the  time  of  the  Apostle  John ;  and  the  writings  of  Tertullian, 
Origen,  Cyprian,  date  this  distinction  in  the  second  century.  In 
Consil.  Illib.,  the  tenafidelis  is  employed  as  a  synonym  for  dcricus." 
— SCHWARZ,  Katcchctik,  p.  11, 12. 


NOTE  D,  page  47. 

First  Appearances  of  a  Tendency  to  form  Pastors  into  a  Caste. 
"  CHRISTIANS  still  loved  to  represent  their  vocation  under  another 
point  of  view,  drawn  equally  from  Scripture  and  from  the  essence 
of  Christianity,  and  fertile,  like  the  former,  in  particular  applica- 
tions ;  namely,  that  of  a  Christian  and  universal  priesthood  ;  of  an 
order  of  sacrificers,  of  which  all  Christians  are  members.  Chris- 
tianity destroyed  the  separation  between  the  priest  and  the  layman, 
between  the  ecclesiastic  and  the  citizen :  All  believers  in  Christ, 
the  only  true  High-priest,  are  consecrated  by  him  to  the  Heavenly 
Father  :  As  his  brethren,  they  have  become  priests  with  him ; 
united  to  bun  by  faith,  animated  by  him  with  the  spirit  of  adoption, 
they  enter  freely  into  the  heavenly  sanctuary,  into  which  Jesus  has 
preceded  them,  and  access  to  which  he  has  opened  to  them.  They 
have  no  longer  need  of  a  human  high-priest  to  represent  to  them 
the  new  sanctuary — the  spiritual  and  true  sanctuary ;  or  to  conduct 
them  into  it,  like  children,  by  the  leading-strings  of  ordinances,  and 
dispense  to  them  sparingly,  and  according  to  his  w  isdom,  the  heav- 
enly treasures  which  eternal  love  has  put  equally  within  the  reach 
of  all.  They  need  no  one  to  teach  them  what  they  can  now  learn 
from  the  mouth  of  God  himself ;  for  all  may  be  instructed  of  God, 


APPENDIX.  347 

enlightened  by  the  same  Spirit — the  Spirit  of  truth,  and  anointed  hy 
him  with  an  internal  and  divine  unction.  There  is  for  all  the  same 
spirit,  the  same  heavenly  life,  faith,  and  hope  ;  the  same  Savior, 
who  alone  is  their  Master,  before  whom  all  who  would  be  his  dis- 
ciples must  acknowledge  themselves  sinners,  in  order  to  obtain 
directly  from  him  alone,  and  not  from  man,  nor  through  the  media- 
tion of  man,  salvation  and  sanctitication. 

"  Henceforth,  with  Christians,  the  times  in  which  men  served 
dumb  idols,  under  the  direction  of  their  priests,  were  past ;  the  day 
had  arrived  when  all  men  were  to  be  masters  in  religion.  The 
great  High-priest  of  humanity,  whom  Christians  followed,  directed 
them,  not  to  senseless  idols,  but  to  the  living  God ;  and,  instead  of 
leading  them,  like  blind  men,  he  shed  within  them  a  light  which 
never  left  them,  a  spirit  which  manifested  itself  by  every  variety  of 
gifts.  Each  Christian  was  to  receive  a  particular  gift  of  grace  ap- 
propriate to  his  individual  character,  and  by  this  means  to  contrib- 
ute, as  a  faithful  member,  to  the  well-being  of  the  whole  society. 
It  was  thus  with  the  Christians  a  well-established  principle,  which 
was  reproduced  in  their  life,  that,  by  faith  in  Christ,  their  sovereign 
High-priest,  and  by  communion  with  him,  they  became  an  order  of 
true  priests  —  consecrated  ministers  of  God,  by  the  internal  and 
sanctifying  unction  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  the  Savior  himself 
shed  upon  them." — Citation  of  facts  and  passages,  in  support  of  this, 
from  Justin  Martyr,  Tertullian,  Irenaeus,  and  Origen. 

"When,  toward  the  end  of  the  second  century,  men  were  in- 
clined to  introduce  into  the  Christian  Church  an  institution  corre- 
sponding to  the  Jewish  pontificate,  as  if  Christianity  also  needed  a 
visible  pontificate,  and  a  caste  of  priests  specially  consecrated  to 
God,  those  Christians  who  were  still  animated  with  the  spirit  of  the 
primitive  Church  opposed  themselves  to  this  anti-evangelical  meas- 
ure, and  the  laity  assumed  the  position  that  they  also,  as  Chris- 
tians, were  a  community  of  priests.  And  as  the  Oriental  theoso- 
phists,  who  had  embraced!  Christianity,  without,  however,  designing 
to  conform  their  habits  of  thought,  to  its  precepts,  sought  to  intro- 
duce into  it,  in  imitation  of  the  Oriental  systems,  the  distinction  be- 


__   ...      ..  . 

348  APPENDIX. 

tween  a  doctrine  peculiar  to  the  priests  and  an  external  religion 
suited  to  the  people  ;  as  the  Gnostics  prided  themselves  upon  pos- 
sessing a  knowledge  superior  to  the  belief  of  the  multitude,  who 
had  only  a  faith  founded  on  authority,  and  called  themselves  spirit- 
ualist*, in  opposition  to  those  who  attached  too  much  importance  to 
the  letter ;  the  Christian  Church,  on  the  contrary,  laid  it  down  as  a 
principle  that  all  Christians  should  be  united  in  the  same  simplicity 
of  faith,  and  through  it  partake  of  the  same  spiritual  life ;  that  all 
true  Christians  are  necessarily  enlightened  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
animated  with  a  true  spirituality." 

"  We  live  already,"  says  Clement  of  Alexandria  (Padagogus,  I.  i., 
c.  vi.) ;  "  we  are  freed  from  the  chains  of  death.  To  follow  Jesus 
Christ  is  to  have  already  obtained  salvation.  '  He  who  heareth  my 
word  and  believeth  in  him  who  sent  me,'  says  the  Lord,  '  hath  eternal 
life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation,  but  is  passed  from  death  unto 
life.''  Thus  faith  and  regeneration  are  already  the  true  life ;  for  God, 
who  produces  them,  works  not  by  halves.  '  Ye  yourselves,1  says  the 
apostle  (1  Thess.,  iv.,  9),  'ore  taught  of  God.'  Now  we  can  not  believe 
that  he  would  leave  his  teaching  incomplete  :  Consequently,  he  who 
has  been  regenerated  and  enlightened  by  the  Spirit,  is  from  thence- 
forth delivered  from  darkness ;  just  as,  on  coming  out  of  a  sleep,  a 
man  immediately  feels  his  thought  waking  up  into  activity ;  or,  rath- 
er, as  the  operation  upon  a  cataract  communicates  no  new  light  to 
the  diseased  eye,  but  only  removes  the  obstacle  which  prevents  it 
from  seeing,  and  restores  freedom  to  the  pupil,  so  baptism  delivers 
from  sin,  which,  like  a  cloud,  intercepts  the  rays  of  the  heavenly 
Spirit.  When  the  Holy  Spirit  deigns  to  communicate  himself  to  us, 
he  gives  us  back  that  spiritual  eye  by  which  alone  we  can  behold 
divine  things." 

"  Faith,"  continues  he,  in  another  place,  "  is  the  only  way  of  salva- 
tion remaining  to  man.  The  Apostle  Paul  declares  this  in  the  clear- 
est manner  when  he  says,  '  Before  faith  came,  ice  were  kept  under  the 
law,  shut  up  unto  the  faith  which  should  afterward  be  revealed.  Where- 
fore the  law  was  our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  unto  Christ,  that  tee  might 
be  justified  by  faith.  But  after  that  faith  it  come,  we  are  no  longer  under 


APPENDIX.  349 

a  schoolmaster. ' — Gal.,  iii.,  23-25.  Do  you  not,  then,  understand  that 
we  are  no  longer  under  that  law  which  inspired  fear,  but  under  the 
founder  of  liberty,  under  the  direction  of  the  Son  of  God  1  After- 
ward, the  apostle  adds,  to  show  that  all  distinction  of  persons  is  an- 
nihilated :  '  For  ye  are  all  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 
For  as  many  of  you  as  hate  been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ. 
There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is 
neither  male  nor  female  ;  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus.' — Gal.,  v., 
26-28.  "  There  are,  then,"  he  adds,  "  no  distinctions  in  Christianity ; 
there  is  no  privileged  class  which  receives  truths  concealed  from 
others ;  there  is  no  distinction  between  spiritual  and  carnal  men  (of 
84  tyvxticol  ol  5i  yvwffrtKot).  On  the  contrary,  true  Christians  are  de- 
livered from  the  yoke  of  carnal  passions ;  they  are  equal  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Lord,  and  are  all  become  spiritual  men." 

"  But,  by  a  singular  contrast,  while  Christians  who  were  faithful 
to  the  Gospel  were  thus  occupied  in  defending  the  rights  of  simple 
believers  against  the  ambitious  enterprises  of  a  sect,  it  was,  at  the 
same  time,  riecessary  for  them  to  sustain  the  equality  of  the  Chris- 
tian vocation  and  of  its  engagements  against  another  class  of  indi- 
viduals, who  were  anxious  to  profit  by  these  anti-evangelical  distinc- 
tions, in  order  to  excuse  themselves  from  leading  a  holy  and  Chris- 
tian life.  Under  the  pretext  that  they  were  not  philosophers,  that 
they  had  not  learned  to  read,  they  thought  they  need  not  concern 
themselves  with  the  Scriptures.  Hence  Clement  says  (Paedagogus, 
1.  iii.,  fol.  255),  'Even  though  they  could  not  read  the  Bible,  they 
were  on  this  account  none  the  less  inexcusable,  because  nothing 
prevents  them  from  hearing  the  word  of  God.  Faith  does  not  be- 
long to  the  wise  of  this  world,  but  to  those  who  are  wise  in  the 
judgment  of  God.  The  word  of  faith,  which  is  divine,  and  not  the 
less  because  it  is  within  reach  of  the  ignorant,  is  no  other  than  the 
word  of  charity.'  Clement  means  that  faith  manifests  itself  alike  in 
the  hearts  of  all  Christians,  by  works  and  labors  of  love." — NEANDER, 
Dcnkwiirdigkeiten,  etc.  Memoirs  with  reference  to  a  History  of  Chris- 
tianity and  of  the  Christian  Life,  etc.,  translated  from  the  German  by 
A.  Diacon,  Neufch&tel,  1829,  vol.  i.t  p.  65-74. 


350  APPENDIX. 

"  Tertullian  expresses  himself  forcibly  concerning  the  universal 
priesthood  of  all  Christians.  (De  Monog.,  c.  vii.)  He  starts  with 
the  idea  that  all  Christians  are  now  what  the  priests  were  under 
the  New  Testament.  The  special  priesthood  of  the  Jews  was  the 
prophetic  image  of  the  general  priesthood  of  Christians  ("  Pristina 
Dei  lex  nos  in  suit  sacerdotibus  prophetavit").  Christ  has  called  us  to 
the  office  of  priest*.  The  sovereign  Sacrificer,  the  High-priest  of 
the  eternal  Father,  has  united  us  to  himself ;  '  for  as  many  of  you 
as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ'  (Gal.,  iii.,  27), 
'  and  thus  he  has  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God  his  Father.'  " 
— Apoc.,  i.,  6.  NEANDER,  Denkwiirdigkeiten,  etc.,  vol.  i.,  p.  179. 

"  Christ  having  satisfied  the  religious  want  which  had, 

in  general,  produced  the  priesthood,  and  having,  by  his  redemptive 
work,  supplied  the  needed  mediation  between  God  and  men,  who  felt 
themselves  separated  from  God  by  sin,  there  was  no  longer  a  place 
for  afaother  intervention.  When  the  apostles,  in  their  epistles,  apply 
to  the  new  religious  constitution  the  Jewish  idea  of  a  priesthood,  of 
sacerdotal  worship,  of  sacrifices,  they  design  to  show  that  Christ, 
having  realized  forever  that  which  was  the  object  of  the  priesthood 
and  the  sacrifices  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  reconciliation  of  man 
with  God,  all  those  who  receive  him  by  faith,  enter  into  the  same  re- 
lation to  God,  without  need  of  any  other  mediation.  Consecrated  to 
God,  and  sanctified  by  communion  with  Christ,  they  are  all  called  to 
offer  their  entire  life  as  a  spiritual  sacrifice  acceptable  to  God ;  all 
their  activity  is  a  true  sacerdotal,  spiritual  worship  ;  Christians  are  a 
holy  nation,  a  people  of  priests. — Rom.,  xii.,  1 ;  1  Peter,  ii.,  9.  This 
idea  of  a  priesthood  belonging  to  all  Christians,  and  founded  upon  the 
consciousness  of  redemption,  is  sometimes  expressed  and  developed, 
sometimes  implied  in  the  attributes,  images,  and  comparisons  which 
are  applied  to  the  Christian  life." — NEANDER,  Geschichte  der  Apostel, 
etc.,  translated  from  the  German  by  F.  Fontanes,  pastor,  Nismes, 
1836,  vol.  i.,  p.  108,  109. 


APPENDIX.  351 

NOTE  E,  page  47. 

Of  the  Universal  Priesthood  of  the  Christian  Church. 
"CHRISTIANITY  allows  no  place  to  a  tribe  of  priests  ordained  to  di- 
rect other  men,  as  under  religious  pupilage,  having  exclusive  charge 
to  supply  men's  needs  in  respect  to  God  and  divine  things.  While 
the  Gospel  removes  whatever  separates  men  from  God,  it  also  calls 
men  to  fellowship  with  God  through  Christ ;  it  takes  away,  more- 
over, every  barrier  which  separates  men  from  one  another  in  respect 
to  their  highest  interests.  All  have  the  same  High-priest  and  Medi- 
ator, through  whom  all,  as  reconciled  and  united  to  God,  have  them- 
selves become  a  sacerdotal  and  spiritual  race  ;  the  same  King,  the 
same  celestial  Master  and  Teacher,  through  whom  all  have  become 
wise  unto  God ;  the  same  faith,  the  same  hope,  the  same  spirit,  by 
whom  all  are  animated ;  the  same  oracle  in  the  heart  of  all — the  voice 
of  the  Spirit  proceeding  from  the  Father — all  citizens  of  the  same  ce- 
lestial kingdom.  There  were  here  neither  laics  nor  ecclesiastics ; 
but  all,  so  far  as  they  were  Christians,  were,  in  their  interior  life  and 
state,  dead  to  whatever  there  was  in  the  world  that  was  contrary  to 
God,  and  were  animated  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Who  might  arrogate 
to  himself,  what  an  inspired  apostle  durst  not,  to  domineer  over  the 
faith  of  Christians  1  The  office  of  teaching  was  not  exclusively  con- 
ferred on  one  man,  or  many ;  but  every  believer  who  might  feel  him- 
self called,  might  speak  a  word  in  the  assembled  Church  for  the  com- 
mon edification." — NEANDER,  AUgemeine  Geschichte  der  christlichen  Re- 
ligion und  Kirche,  tome  i.,  p.  177. 


NOTE  F,  page  57. 
On  the  Dignity  of  the  Ministry. 

"  MOREOVER,  if  we  weigh  things  in  a  just  balance,  we  shall  find 
that  there  is  no  king,  by  whatever  pomp  he  may  be  surrounded,  who, 
as  a  king,  is  not  below  the  dignity,  I  do  not  say  of  a  bishop,  but  even 
of  a  village  curate  (cicani  pastoris),  regarded  as  a  pastor.  If  I  seem 


352  APPENDIX. 

to  utter  a  paradox,  I  can  establish  the  truth  of  what  I  say.  In  order 
to  this,  let  us  but  compare  the  functions  and  object  of  a  pastor  with 
those  of  a  king.  To  what  do  princes  give  their  concern  1  Is  it  not 
by  the  vigor  of  the  laws  to  repress  the  wicked,  and  to  preserve  the 
upright  in  peace  1  That  is,  to  keep  the  persons  and  the  goods  of  the 
citizens  of  the  state  in  safety.  But  how  much  more  excellent  is  the 
object  of  the  evangelical  pastor,  who  seeks  to  establish  the  sweetest 
tranquillity  in  the  souls  of  individuals  by  quieting  and  taming  the 
lusts  of  the  world !  A  king  labors  to  the  end  that  the  state  may  live 
in  peace  with  its  neighbors ;  it  is  the  endeavor  of  the  priest  that  ev- 
ery one  may  be  at  peace  with  God,  may  have  peace  within,  and  that 
no  one  may  design  the  injury  of  another. 

"  The  prince's  object  ia  to  protect  the  house,  the  field,  the  cattle 
of  individuals  against  the  encroachment  of  thieves.  See  how  vile  is 
the  object  of  these  royal  functions.  And  what  is  the  occupation  of 
the  priest  1  To  protect  the  goods  of  the  souls  which  are  confided 
to  him,  their  faith,  their  charity,  their  temperance,  their  chastity, 
against  the  violence  of  the  devil ;  goods  which  make  those  happy 
who  possess  them,  and  the  loss  of  which  plunges  them  into  misery. 
What  is  it  that  we  may  receive  from  the  liberality  of  the  prince  1 
Revenues,  appointments,  titles  of  honor :  fleeting  good? — sports  of 
fortune.  But  what  may  we  hope  to  receive  from  the  hands  of  the 
priest?  He  administers  heavenly  grace  by  the  efficacious  sacra- 
ments of  the  Church.  By  baptism  he  makes  children  of  hell  to  be- 
come heirs  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  by  the  holy  unction  he  gives 
the  soul  power  to  resist  the  assaults  of  devils  ;  by  the  holy  Eucha- 
rist he  unites  men  with  one  another,  and  men  with  God,  in  order  to 
form  them  into  one  whole  ;  by  the  sacrament  of  penance  he  gives 
life  to  the  dead,  and  of  slaves  he  makes  freemen ;  finally,  from  the 
breast  of  the  Scriptures  he  draws  daily  the  sustenance  of  saving 
truth,  which  nourishes  and  strengthens  souls.  The  priest  presents 
that  spiritual  beverage  which  truly  rejoices  the  heart ;  he  presents 
the  remedy  which  can  heal  the  mortal  maladies  of  the  soul,  the  ef- 
fectual antidote  of  the  dreadful  poison  of  the  old  serpent.  In  a 
word,  whatever  falls  under  the  control  of  the  prince  is  earthly  and 


APPENDIX.  353 

fleeting ;  but  that  which  engages  the  pastor's  care  is  divine,  celes- 
tial, eternal.  Consequently,  as  great  as  is  the  difference  between 
heaven  and  eanh,  between  the  body  and  the  sou),  between  temporal 
and  eternal  goods,  so  great  is  the  difference  between  the  functions 
of  a  prince  and  the  charge  of  a  priest." — ERASMUS,  Ecclcsiattes,  lib.  i., 
traduction  de  Roques,  dans  le  Pasteur  Etangelique,  p.  190,  191. 


NOTE  G,  p.  116. 
Of  Prayer.  , 

Prayer  of  Bacon. — "  This  invocation,  the  Christian  simplicity  of 
which  is  very  touching  in  so  great  a  man,  afterward  became,"  says 
M.  Chateaubriand,  "  his  habitual  prayer  when  he  addressed  himself 
to  study." 

The  Student'*  Prayer.—"  To  God  the  Father,  God  the  Word,  God 
the  Spirit,  we  pour  forth  most  humble  and  hearty  supplications  ;  that 
he,  remembering  the  calamities  of  mankind,  and'the  pilgrimage  of 
this  our  life,  in  which  we  wear  out  days  few  and  evil,  would  please 
to  open  to  us  new  refreshments  out  of  the  fountains  of  his  good- 
ness, for  the  alleviating  of  our  miseries.  This,  also,  we  humbly  and 
earnestly  beg,  that  human  things  may  not  prejudice  such  as  are  di- 
vine ;  neither  that,  from  the  unlocking  of  the  gates  of  sense,  and  the 
kindling  of  a  greater  natural  light,  any  thing  of  incredulity  or  intel- 
lectual night  may  arise  in  our  mind  toward  divine  mysteries.  But 
rather  that,  by  our  mind  thoroughly  cleansed  and  purged  from  fancy 
and  vanities,  and  yet  subject  and  perfectly  given  up  to  the  divine 
oracles,  there  may  be  given  up  unto  faith  the  things  that  are 
faith's.  Amen." 

The  prayer  of  Bacon,  which  we  here  give,  is  somewhat  remark- 
ably varied  in  the  preface  of  his  Nomtm  Organum :  It  there  termin- 
ates in  these  words :  "  And,  lastly,  that,  being  freed  from  the  poison 
of  knowledge  infused  into  it  by  the  serpent,  and  with  which  the  hu- 
man soul  is  swollen  and  puffed  up,  we  may  neither  be  too  profound- 
ly nor  immoderately  wise,  but  worship  truth  in  charity." — DE  VAP- 
XELLES,  Histoire  de  Bacon,  tome  i.,  p.  107. 


354  APPENDIX. 

Prayer  of  Kepler. — "  Before  I  rise  from  this  table,  where  I  have 
been  pursuing  these  researches,  it  only  remains  for  me  to  raise  my 
eyes  and  my  hands  toward  heaven,  and  devoutly  address  my  hum- 
ble prayer  to  the  Author  of  all  light :  O  Thou  who,  by  the  lofty  lights 
which  thou  hast  spread  over  all  nature,  dost  raise  our  desires  even 
to  the  divine  light  of  thy  grace,  in  order  that  we  may  one  day  be 
transported  into  the  eternal  light  of  thy  glory,  I  thank  thee,  Lord 
and  Creator,  for  all  the  ecstatic  joy  which  I  have  experienced  in  the 
contemplation  of  the  work  of  thy  hands.  I  have  now  finished  this 
book,  which  contains  the  chief  of  my  labors,  and  I  have  employed  in 
its  composition  the  whole  sum  of  the  intelligence  which  thou  hast 
given  me.  I  have  declared  to  men  all  the  greatness  of  thy  works  ; 
I  have  unfolded  to  them  their  evidences,  as  far  as  my  finite  mind 
has  been  able  to  comprehend  their  infinite  amplitude.  I  have  exert- 
ed all  my  efforts  to  raise  myself  to  truth  in  the  way  of  philosophy ; 
and  if  I,  a  miserable  worm,  conceived  and  nourished  in  sin,  have 
chanced  to  say  any  thing  unworthy  of  thee,  make  it  known  to  me, 
that  I  may  blot  it  out.  Have  I  not  yielded  to  the  seductions  of  pre- 
sumption in  presence  of  the  admirable  beauty  of  thy  works  1  Have 
I  not  had  in  view  my  own  renown  among  men  in  raising  this  monu- 
ment, which  should  be  entirely  consecrated  to  thy  glory  1  Oh,  if  it 
has  been  thus  with  me,  of  thy  mercy  and  clemency  receive  me,  and 
grant  me  grace  that  the  work  which  I  have  completed  may  be  the 
means  of  no  evil,  but  may  contribute  to  thy  glory  and  to  the  salva- 
tion of  souls." — BCCKLAND,  La  Geologic  et  la  Mineralogie,  etc.,  traduit 
dc  VAnglaise,  par  Doyen,  tome  i.,  p.  9,  note. 

Prayer  of  De  Thou. — "  The  historian  De  Thou  relates,  in  his  mem- 
oirs, that  every  morning,  besides  the  prayer  which  each  believer  is 
required  to  offer,  he  implored  God  in  private  to  purify  his  heart,  to 
banish  from  it  hatred  and  flattery,  to  enlighten  his  mind,  and  to 
make  known  to  him  the  truth,  which  so  many  passions  and  conflict- 
ing interests  had  almost  buried :  We  are  happy  to  find  such  agree- 
ments between  contemporary  authors." — DE  VAUXELLES,  Histoire  de 
Bacon,  tome  i.,  p.  107,  note. 

Sacerdotal  Prayer. — "  Prayer  is  the  most  inward  and  the  moat  es- 


APPENDIX.  355 

sential  duty  of  the  ministry ;  it  is  the  soul,  so  to  speak,  of  the  priest- 
hood ;  it  is  the  pastor's  only  safety :  This  alone  sweetens  the  dis- 
tastes, and  precludes  the  danger  of  your  functions  ;  this  alone  secures 

success  in  the  discharge  of  them But,  my  brethren,  even 

if  prayer  were  not  as  indispensable  as  it  is  to  the  success  of  our  func- 
tions, do  we  not  owe  it  to  our  people]  Are  we  not  charged,  in  our 
character  of  pastor  and  of  minister,  to  pray  for  them  without  ceas- 
ing 1  Is  it  not  even  the  most  essential  duty  of  that  priesthood  which 
establishes  us  as  mediators  between  God  and  the  people  I  On  the 
prayers  of  the  pastor  God  has  made  to  depend  the  grace  which  he  in- 
tends to  bestow  upon  the  flock  :  It  is  ours,  my  brethren,  to  present 
to  him,  without  ceasing,  tho  wants  of  our  people,  to  solicit  for  them 
the  riches  of  mercy,  to  turn  away  his  wrath  from  the  infliction  of 
those  scourges  and  chastisements  with  which  their  provocations  are 
often  punished  :  It  is  ours  to  deplore  before  him  the  vices  with  which 
we  see  our  people  infected,  and  of  which  our  cares  and  our  zeal  can 
not  cure  them :  It  is  ours  to  ask  strength  for  the  feeble,  compunction 
for  hardened  sinners,  perseverance  for  the  righteous.  The  more 
boundless  the  wants  of  our  people,  the  more  lively  and  frequent 
should  be  our  prayers  :  We  should  never  appear  before  him  without 
having,  like  the  high-priest  under  the  law,  the  names  of  the  tribes 
written  on  our  heart — that  is  to  say,  the  names  of  the  people  confid- 
ed to  us  ;  this  should  always  be  the  principal  subject  of  our  prayer." 
— MASSILLON,  Douzieme  Discours  Synodal,  De  la  Necessile  de  la  Prtere. 
The  same  Subject. — "  Accompany  your  labors  with  your  prayers  : 
Speak  of  the  disorders  of  your  people  to  God  more  frequently  than  to 
them.  Complain  to  him  Of  the  obstacles  put  in  the  way  of  their  con- 
version by  your  unfaithfulness  more  frequently  than  of  those  which 
their  obstinacy  may  present.  Blame  yourself  alone  at  his  feet  for  the 
small  fruit  of  his  ministry.  As  a  tender  father,  apologize  to  him  for 
the  faults  of  your  children,  and  accuse  only  yourself,"  etc. — MASSIL- 
LON, Discours  sur  le  Zele  des  Pasleurs  pour  le  Salut  de*  Ames. 


356  APPENDIX. 

NOTE  H,  page  182. 

By  the  Translator. 
Has  the  Sabbath  been  abolished  ? 

WHAT  is  the  ideal  of  the  Sabbath  ?  If  the  Sabbath  were  an  insti- 
tution of  the  theocracy,  like  the  appointment  of  the  cities  of  refuge, 
etc.,  then,  when  the  new  dispensation  entered,  it  did,  indeed,  pass 
away  with  the  other  theocratic  institutions  of  Judaism.  But  the 
Sabbath,  in  its  ideal,  was  nor  more  Judaic  or  theocratic  than  marriage. 
Its  date  was  ante-judaic.  The  Sabbath  was  the  day  on  which  He 
who  built  all  things  ceased  and  rested  from  his  work — the  seventh 
day,  which  God  blessed  and  sanctified,  because  that  in  it  he  had 
rested  from  all  his  work  which  God  created  and  made. — Genesis,  ii., 
3,  compared  with  Exodus,  xx.,  10,  11.  When  the  Author,  who  was 
also  the  first  observer  of  the  Sabbath,  established,  under  the  legation 
of  Moses,  a  theocratic  form  of  government  over  the  Jewish  people, 
it  pleased  him  to  incorporate  in  it  the  Sabbatic  institution ;  and  by 
enacting  laws  respecting  this  institution  with  temporal  or  civil  sanc- 
tions, to  erect  it  into  an  institution  of  civil  polity,  without,  however, 
divesting  it  of  its  original  character  of  sacredness.  The  Sabbath, 
amid  the  institutions  of  Moses,  stood  in  all  its  distinctiveness  and 
peculiarity  as  perfectly  as  it  did  at  its  first  appointment.  .  As  the  civ- 
ico-sacred  government  which  the  Jews  had  been  under  ceased  when 
the  new  dispensation  began,  the  Jewish  appendages  to  the  Sabbath, 
or  the  Sabbath,  as  far  forth  as  it  was  a  purely  Jewish  institution,  now 
had  an  end.  But  the  ideal  of  the  Sabbath  transfers  us  beyond  the 
date  of  Judaism,  and  beyond  all  local  and  variable  interests  and  com- 
munities, and,  placing  us  at  the  stand-point  of  humanity,  discovers 
to  us,  as  the  just  sphere  of  the  Sabbatic  Law,  the  whole  race  of  man 
regarded  as  possessing  a  religious  nature,  in  circumstances  such  as 
man's  must  needs  have  been  while  an  inhabitant  of  the  earth,  and 
subject  to  laws  of  human  life  appropriate  to  such  a  world  and  such 
a  state  as  were  chosen  for  man  by  his  Maker. 

Assuming  that  man  was  to  lead  a  religious  life  on  earth,  we  can 
not  avoid  seeing  that  the  Sabbath,  if  not  of  indispensable  necessity 


APPENDIX.  357 

to  this  end,  was  at  least  of  the  highest  advantage  and  value ;  and  the 
Divine  wisdom  and  goodness  in  sanctifying  and  hallowing  it  (for  it 
was  for  man's  sake  that  this  was  done,  Mark,  ii.,  27),  can  not  but  be 
acknowledged  :  And  to  suppose  that  this  institution,  regarded  in  its 
true  idea,  has  been  abolished  by  Christianity,  is  to  suppose  that  un- 
der Christianity — that  is,  under  the  dispensation  of  the  fullness  of  the 
Divine  favor  to  man,  there  has  been  an  abridgment  of  privileges  in  a 
very  comprehensive,  if  not  an  all-comprehensive,  respect.  Indeed,  it 
seems  impossible  to  think  that  Christianity,  without  a  constant  mira- 
cle, could  attain  its  purpose,  if  the  Sabbath,  such  as  it  was  from  the 
beginning — the  Sabbath  in  its  original  ideal  and  influence — should  be 
denied  to  it.  Was,  then,  the  Sabbath  abolished  by  Christianity1? 

"  Jesus  Christ,"  says  M.  Vinet,  page  42,  "  instituted  very  little  ;  he 
inspired  more."  He  abolished  as  he  instituted.  He  employed  no 
direct  legislation  against  the  peculiarities  of  Judaism,  the  shadows 
of  the  good  things  which  were  to  come  in  with  the  Gospel :  He  left 
the  shadows  to  themselves,  after  the  "  very  image  of  the  things" 
had  manifested  itself,  except  when  the  shadows  sought  to  displace 
this  image.  The  shadows  very  reluctantly,  but  slowly  and  gradual- 
ly, retired,  and  the  Christian  verities  availed  themselves  of  the  ad- 
vantages which  were  afforded  them  by  the  dispensation  of  liberty  to 
which  they  belonged ;  and  as  Christian  institutions  were  needed,  they 
made  their  appearance,  sometimes  by  the  special  agency  of  the  dis- 
ciples, and  sometimes  spontaneously,  or,  as  it  were,  of  a  natural  birth 
or  growth.  In  one  way  or  another,  the  new  wine  was  provided,  or 
provided  itself,  with  new  bottles  as  they  were  needed. 

The  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christianity,  in  its  action  in  ref- 
erence to  the  Sabbath,  followed  its  own  appropriate  mode  :  It  need- 
ed, as  a  sacred  day,  a  different  day  of  the  week  from  that  which 
had  been  observed  as  a  Sabbath  under  the  former  flispensation  :  It 
did  not  legislate  out  the  seventh  day  ;  it  did  not  explicitly  and  mag- 
isterially legislate  in  the  first  day :  As  the  new  life  had  its  begin- 
ning and  its  fountain  in  the  resHrrection  of  Christ,  it  was  natural, 
assuming  it  had  need  of  a  sacred  day,  that  it  should  take  the  first 
day  of  the  week :  It  did  this,  it  would  seem,  spontaneously  or  natu- 


358  APPENDIX. 

rally,  and  not  by  means  of  any  legislative  or  instituting  act,  wheth- 
er immediately  on  the  part  of  Christ  himself  or  through  the  agency 
of  the  apostles.  The  first  day,  without  any  expression  of  discon- 
tent with  the  seventh,  without  forbidding  expressly  the  observance 
of  the  seventh,  naturally,  quietly,  unobjectionably  assumed  the  place 
to  which  it  was  called  by  the  wants  and  exigences  of  Christianity. 
But  did  it  take  this  place  less  under  the  divine  sanction,  and  less 
by  the  action  of  the  divine  will  and  the  divine  Spirit,  than  it  would 
have  done  if  a  law  had  been  passed  appointing  it  to  this  place,  with 
all  the  authority  and  force  with  which  the  seventh  day  was  installed 
as  a  great  fundamental  institution  of  Judaism  ?  Though  it  came  in 
with  the  spontaneity  and  freedom  which  pertained  to  the  essence 
of  the  new  life,  let  us  remember  it  was  this  new  life  as  it  dwelt  and 
developed  itself  in  the  apostles  —  inspired,  and,  in  reference  to  the 
work  of  the  apostolate,  infallible  men  —  that,  as  with  the  swelling 
flood  of  the  sea,  advanced  the  Lord's  day  to  the  sanctity  and  honor 
of  the  sacred  day  of  Christianity.  It  is  impossible  that  there  should 
be  any  tokens  of  majesty,  sacredness,  authority  divine  and  inviola- 
ble, more  unambiguous,  more  decisive,  more  commanding,  than  those 
by  which  the  religious  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  is 
sanctioned  and  enforced. 

So  our  author  thinks  :  "  Sunday  was  not  added  to  Christianity ;  it 
was  born  of  it :  Sunday  is  a  summary  of  Christianity.  .  .  .  Internal 
necessity  is  the  true  law,  the  best  authority  for  Sunday ;  it  speaks 
more  strongly  to  us  than  a  written  ordinance.  .  .  .  Nothing  binds  so 
much  as  Christian  liberty  and  conscience — this  has  consecrated  a 
day  ;  it  ought,  then,  to  be  holy."  This  would  seem  to  be  putting  the 
authority  and  sanctity  of  the  Lord's  day,  as  a  day  of  sacredness,  on 
ground  as  high  and  as  holy  as  we  could  desire  for  it.  Its  observ- 
ance as  a  sacred  day  is  binding,  is  necessary,  is  the  natural  off- 
spring of  Christianity,  without  which  there  would  soon  be  no  Chris- 
tianity. We  rejoice  in  this  view  of  the  subject,  from  this  most  vig- 
orous and  profound  thinker,  the  more,  because  men  of  high  name 
and  station  have  recently  advanced  different  views,  which  we  can 
not  regard  as  favorable  to  Christianity.  The  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 


APPENDIX.  359 

for  example,  puts  the  authority  of  the  Lord's  day  on  the  same 
ground  with  that  of  Holy  Thursday,  Christmas,  and  other  days 
which  the  Church  has  thought  proper  to  appoint  as  sacred  ones  in 
the  exercise  of  the  power  of  the  keys,  or  the  power  of  binding  and 
loosing,  granted  by  Christ  to  his  first  followers,  and  through  them  to 
their  successors.  In  contradistinction  to  this,  M.  Vinet's  view  of 
the  ground  of  the  sacredness  of"  Sunday"  places  it  in  perfect  inde- 
pendence of  ecclesiastical  legislation,  identifies  it  with  the  very  es- 
sence of  Christianity,  and  thus  gives  it  a  position  into  which  no 
other  day  can  be  introduced  without  sacrilegious  usurpation.  Still, 
even  he  asserts  that  the  Sabbath  is  abolished  :  Le  Dimanckc,  the 
Lord's  day,  is  not  a  Sabbath.  That  institution,  which  was  ordain- 
ed by  the  Maker  of  the  world,  for  the  benefit  of  mankind,  before  the 
generations  began,  and  without  the  appropriate  influence  and  ad- 
vantage of  which  the  spiritual  life,  in  such  a  world  and  in  such  cir- 
cumstances as  ours,  can  not  be  perpetuated — did  Christianity,  in- 
deed, abolish  this  institution  by  setting  aside  that  system  of  Judaism 
which,  for  its  own  purposes,  appropriated  the  Sabbatic  principle  and 
invested  it  with  secular  authority  1  Did  an  institution,  having  its 
ground  in  the  spiritual  nature  and  necessities  of  man,  pass  away  with 
a  mass  of  institutions,  the  ground  of  which  was  local,  temporary, 
and,  after  its  day  had  passed,  illegitimate,  and  impossible  to  be  re- 
tained 1  Did  Christianity  abolish  an  institution  as  old,  as  radical, 
and  as  necessary  as  marriage,  because  it  was  its  lot  to  be  taken,  for 
special  reasons,  into  company  with  the  shadows  and  symbols  of  Mo- 
ses' law  1 

This  question  may  be  thought  to  be  unimportant,  since  the  sacred- 
ness  of  Sunday,  the  Lord's  day,  is  put  into  such  high  and  command- 
ing relief  by  the  doctrine  of  our  author.  Indeed,  according  to  this 
doctrine,  the  Sabbath,  in  its  essential  idea,  is  not  abolished ;  it  is  re- 
tained ;  it  is  advanced  into  more  full  and  perfect  power  and  life  : 
Nothing  is  abolished  but  the  laws  of  Moses  respecting  the  Sabbath : 
This  was,  indeed,  a  small  thing ;  nay,  it  was  a  good  and  a  neces- 
sary thing,  that  these  laws  should  have  been  abolished.  Had  they 
remained  to  regulate  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  under  the 


360  APPENDIX. 

Christian  dispensation,  they  would  have  militated  against  the  whole 
genius  and  purpose  of  that  dispensation :  But  not  less  hostile  to 
these  .would  have  been  the  setting  aside  the  influence  and  sanction 
of  the  exact  idea,  and  the  intrinsic  law  and  life  of  Sabbatism.  Not 
without  reason  was  true  piety,  under  the  Old  Testament,  resolved 
into  Sabbatism — the  keeping  of  a  Sabbath.  There  was  more  than  a 
mere  symbol  in  Sabbath-sanctification  ;  there  always  has  been  more  ; 
there  always  will  be  more  :  When  all  the  shadows  and  all  the  chan- 
ges of  time  shall  have  found  their  end,  Sabbatism  will  remain,  as 
comprising  the  substantive  and  immutable  piety  of  the  heavenly 
State:  avoAeiircTcu  2ABBATI2MOVS  r£>  A.aeS  rov  6tov.  —  Heb.,  iv.,  0. 
All  will  be  Sabbath  forever  in  heaven  :  that  is  to  say,  the  piety  of 
saints,  such  as  it  is  when  it  exercises  and  expresses  itself  in  the 
form  of  genuine  Sabbath-sanctification — this  piety  perfectly  devel- 
oped under  this  form,  as  it  will  be  in  heaven,  gives  us  the  ideal,  and 
is  most  completely  identical  with  the  very  essence  of  the  piety  of 
heaven.  And  if  the  most  perfect  exhibition  of  the  piety  of  heaven 
was  needful  or  desirable  in  advancing  the  cause  of  Christianity,  it 
were  strange,  indeed,  that  Christianity  should  deprive  itself  of  this 
advantage,  as  it  certainly  has  done,  if  it  has  strictly  and  absolutely 
abolished  the  SABBATH. 

It  is  the  change  of  the  day,  nothing  besides  this,*  that  has  sug- 
gested the  idea  of  abolition  :  But  not  to  assume  with  some  a  position 
not  tenable,  that  the  day  has  not  been  changed,  except  to  change  it 
back  to  that  which  had  been  observed  from  the  beginning  until  the 
time  of  Moses,  we  ask  whether  there  be  any  thing  in  the  identical 
twenty-four  hours  between  the  termination  of  Friday  and  the  begin- 
ning of  Sunday  which  would  involve  the  abolition  of  Sabbatism,  if  any 
other  hours  than  these  should  be  taken  in  their  stead  ?  Would  there 
not  be  in  this  case  a  most  gratuitous  application  of  the  principle,  the 
Utter  killetk — a  principle  which,  as  much  as  any  other,  may  be  termed 
a  fundamental  one  in  hermeneutics?  If  Christianity  retains  the  whole 
of  the  Sabbatic  institution,  except  the  sanctification  of  these  identic- 
al hours — if,  with  all  the  fullness  and  power  of  its  mighty  life,  Chris- 
*  Gal.,  IT.,  10,  and  Col.,  ii.,  18,  do  not  refer  to  this  subject. 


APPENDIX.  361 

tianity  has  declared  itself  in  favor  of  exactly  that  essential  thing 
which  constituted  the  all  in  all  of  Sabbatism  at  the  beginning,  except 
that,  for  high  and  necessary  purposes,  it  has  assigned  to  it  a  place 
in  the  run  of  the  week  different  by  one  day  from  that  which  it  first 
held — if  this  is  all  that  Christianity  has  done  in  modifying  the  ancient 
Sabbatic  institution — if,  with  this  one  exception,  it  has  advanced  the 
idea  of  Sabbatism,  together  with  all  the  particular  ideas  which  this 
comprises  as  entering  into  the  unchangeable  and  eternal  essence  of 
piety,  far,  immeasurably  far,  beyond  its  original  sphere— is  there  any 
warrant,  any  justification,  for  the  use  of  such  language  as  this  :  Chris- 
tianity has  abolished  the  Sabbath  1 

If  fidelity  to  the  truth  does  not  require  this  affirmation,  we  think  it 
should  not  have  been  made.  Words  are  things.  Luther,  in  order  to 
express  in  the  strongest  manner  his  abhorrence  of  legalism,  employs 
these  terras  in  regard  to  the  observance  of  Sunday :  "  Keep  it  holy, 
for  its  use'  sake  both  to  body  and  soul !  But  if  any  where  the  day  is 
made  holy  for  the  mere  day's  sake — if  any  where  any  one  sets  up  its 
observance  upon  a  Jewish  foundation,  then  I  order  you  to  work  on  it, 
to  ride  on  it,  to  dance  on  it,  to  feast  on  it — to  do  any  thing  that  shall 
reprove  this  encroachment  on  the  Christian  spirit  and  liberty."  For 
the  observance  of  Sunday,  in  Luther's  conception,  there  was  no  ground 
of  obligation  excepting  expediency :  no  inviolable  law  of  God  re- 
quired it :  So  he  taught  with  all  the  power  of  his  mighty  tongue. 
His  end  was  good  :  So,  with  his  views  of  the  sacredness  of  Sunday, 
he  was,  perhaps,  right  in  teaching :  We  say  he  may  have  been  right 
in  teaching  as  he  did  if  Sunday  truly  have  no  other  ground  of  sacred- 
ness  than  expediency,  according  to  man's  ideas  of  expediency.  M. 
Vinet  had  no  such  conceptions  as  to  the  foundation  of  Sunday  sacred- 
ness  ;  but  in  saying  that  the  Sabbath  is  abolished,  it  is  to  be  feared 
that  he  opens  the  door,  by  possibility  at  least,  to  the  legitimation,  to 
an  indefinite  extent,  of  Luther's  teaching  on  this  point.  If  we  say 
the  Sabbath  is  abolished,  do  we  not  virtually  make  expediency  the 
rule  of  Sunday  sanctification,  unless,  indeed,  we  assume  Whately's 
position,  that  Sunday  should  be  kept  from  regard  to  ecclesiastical 
prescription  or  recommendation.  M.  Vinet  rests  the  sacredness  of 

Q. 


362  APPENDIX. 

the  Lord's  day  on  the  same  foundation  on  which  Christianity  itself 
rests  :  herein  he  is  right ;  but  that  which  has  a  firm  foundation  may 
still  need  law  to  inform,  to  regulate,  and  direct  it ;  and,  taking  man- 
kind as  they  are,  to  remove  the  authority  of  positive  law  from  relig- 
ious institutions,  to  place  the  claims  of  these  institutions  to  onr  re- 
gard on  any  other  ground  than  that  of  the  peremptory  authority  and 
inviolable  command  of  God,  is  a  virtual  desecration  of  them. 


NOT*  I,  page  185. 

By  the  Translator. 

On  Liturgies. 

THE  question  whether  the  spirit  of  the  evangelic  life  or  Christian 
dispensation  desires  or  needs  a  Liturgy  in  worship ;  whether  this 
spirit  prefers  or  consents  to  bind  itself  to  forms  of  prayer,  prescribed 
or  imposed  by  ecclesiastical  authority  or  prudence,  we  would  appeal, 
for  a  new  examination  on  its  merits,  against  the  disposition  which  is 
made,  or  is  sought  to  be  made  of  it,  by  predominant  sentiment. 
Whether  it  be  from  the  new  appearance  of  formalism,  or  from  de- 
sire for  a  more  chaste  and  cultivated  manner  in  conducting  public 
worship,  or  from  defect  of  the  spirit  of  free  prayer  in  these  times,  or 
from  all  these  causes  combined,  there  are  indications,  not  to  be  mis- 
taken, that  a  preference  for  the  stated  use  of  Liturgies  is  prevailing 
to  some  extent  in  denominations  which  have  hitherto  thought  it, 
among  themselves  at  least,  inexpedient :  And  as  the  tendencies  of 
this  preference  in  these  denominations  seem  to  us  unfavorable  to 
the  interests  of  Christianity,  on  the  whole,  we  should  scarcely  be 
true  to  ourselves  if  we  should  leave  our  author's  remarks  on  Litur- 
gies without  at  least  indicating  our  judgment. 

Let  us  not  misapprehend  our  author  on  this  subject.  Though  he 
says,  when  speaking  of  the  performance  of  the  service,  "  Le  ministre 
est  lie  a  la  Liturgie  qui  ne  lui  appartient  pas,  qui  est  la  voix  meme  du 
troupeau  et  a  laquelle  il  ne  fait  que  prater  sa  voix  individuelle,"  he  had 
said  before,  "  Des  paroles  a  la  fois  humaines  et  prescrites  ne  me  sem- 


APPENDIX.  363 

blent  pas  realiser  1'ideal  d'une  Liturgie  :  Si  la  parole  humaine  devait 
s'y  m61er,  je  I'aimerais  mieux  libre  et  individuelle."  Taking  both  these 
passages  together,  and  interpreting  them  as  we  feel  bound  to  do,  with- 
out making  our  author  inconsistent  with  himself,  we  obtain,  as  M. 
Vinet's  judgment,  on  the  whole,  that,  while  the  officiating  minister, 
as  the  minister  of  a  flock  that  has  prescribed  to  itself  forms  of  wor- 
ship, is  to  be  tied  to  the  liturgy  of  the  flock,  and  not  to  use  his  own 
voice  except  as  that  of  one  individual  thereof,  there  is,  nevertheless, 
in  this  mode  of  worship,  something  inconsistent  with  the  ideal  of  a 
Liturgy.  "  It  appears  to  me,"  he  says,  "  that  the  ideal  of  a  Liturgy 
can  not  be  realized  in  words  at  -the  same  time  human  and  prescribed. 
If  human  words  are  to  be  admitted,  I  prefer  that  they  should  be  free 
and  individual."  As  there  are  ?'  human  words"  in  all  extant  Litur- 
gies, it  is  M.  Vinet's  impression  that  the  ideal  of  a  Liturgy  is  realized 
in  no  Liturgy ;  that  is  to  say,  if  we  understand  him,  that  liturgical 
worship,  such  as  it  is  every  where  in  fact,  involves  more  or  less  of 
inconsistency  with  the  just  idea  of  worship.  This  he  might  believe, 
and  yet,  on  the  whole,  think  this  mode  of  worship  expedient— expedi- 
ent as  being  less  objectionable  than  free  prayer. 

And  yet  free  prayer  he  thinks  more  congenial  with  the  ideal  of  a 
Liturgy  than  prayers  precomposed  and  prescribed  by  man.  In  the 
nature  of  free  prayer  as  such,  there  is  nothing  incongenial  with  this 
ideal :  In  prescribed  forms,  on  the  contrary,  the  ideal  can  not  be  re- 
alized :  Free  prayer,  then,  has  this  advantage,  and  it  is  surely  no  ux- 
important  one,  that,  in  its  just  and  complete  exercise,  the  ideal  of 
worship  may  be  realized  :  It  will  be  realized  if  those  who  offer  free 
prayer  are  not  in  fault ;  it  can  not  be  in  the  other  mode  of  worship. 
If,  then,  it  be  feasible  to  have  free  worship,  unobjectionable  as  to 
manner  and  spirit,  or  just  in  proportion  as  this  is  feasible,  the  prefer- 
ableness  of  free  worship  is  unquestionable. 

Dismissing  for  the  present  the  question  as  to  this  feasibility,  we  re- 
turn to  the  other  point — the  incongeniality  of  Liturgies  with  the  spirit 
of  Christianity — the  ideal  of  Christian  worship :  With  such  views  of 
this  spirit  as  onr  author  has  so  forcibly  and  beautifully  expressed,  it 
was  impossible  for  him  not  to  have  felt  the  incongeniality,  the  incon- 


364  APPENDIX. 

sistency  of  which  we  speak.  He  could  not  but  feel  that  the  spirit  of 
Christianity,  especially  in  its  primitive  manifestation,  was  entirely  in- 
consistent with  such  an  interference  with  spiritual  liberty  as  the  au- 
thoritative prescription  of  a  human  Liturgy  would  have  been.  History 
had  acquainted  him  with  the  fact  that  there  was  no  such  interference  ;* 
but,  independently  of  history,  he  knew  this  by  a  priori  evidence — he 
knew  it,  we  may  say,  by  intuition.  The  early  Christianity  would,  in 
his  apprehension,  have  denied  itself  if  it  had  submitted  to  the  imposi- 
tion of  a  prescribed  and  stereotyped  Liturgy. 

But,  though  we  have  no  need  of  historical  evidence,  we  ought  not 
to  forget  this  fact  of  history,  namely,  that  there  was  no  appearance 
of  liturgical  worship  in  the  Christian  Church  until  Christianity  had  be- 
come degenerate  and  corrupt.  Liturgies  were  unknown  in  the  purest 
times ;  in  their  beginning,  their  increase,  and  through  all  their  chan- 
ges, they  were  the  work  of  uninspired  men's  hands  ;  their  origin  is 
unknown :  "  They  seem  to  me,"  says  Dr.  Owen,  "  to  have  had  but 
slender  originals  ;  their  beginnings  were  small,  plain,  brief ;  their  use 
arbitrary ;  the  additions  they  received  were  from  the  endeavors  of 
private  men  in  several  ages,  occasional  for  the  most  part ;"  their 
apology  was  necessity,  arising  from  the  introduction  of  men  "  into 
the  office  of  the  ministry  who  had  not  gifts  and  abilities  for  the  prof- 
itable discharge  of  the  work  of  the  ministry ;"  the  times  of  their 
greatest  abundance  and  prosperity  were  the  ages  of  darkness ;  and, 
in  Dr.  Owen's  judgment,  they  had  the  chief  influence  in  promoting 
the  degeneracy  of  the  Church  before  the  Reformation. t 

It  has  seemed  to  us  an  invincible  objection  to  the  general  use  of 

*  The  following  is  the  account  given  by  Tertnllian  of  the  manner  of  worship  in 
his  time:  "Illuc  (that  is  toward  heaven)  suscipientis  Christian!  manibus  expansis 
qnia  innocuis,  capito  nudo  qnia  non  erubeseimus,  denique  sine  monltore  quia  de 
pectore  oramus." — Apol,  cap.  30.  Justin  Martyr's  is  as  follows :  'Afleoi  n.iv  ovv 
us  oi/K  e<rntv,  TOV  Btfiivpyov  r<at>  6*  TOV  TTUVTOS  <r<0d/iefoi,  avtv&cri  at^artav  <cai  a~nov- 
fitt»'  (cat  OvfuafLaTaif  cl>$  fSeSd^diifUV  Aeyoiros  Aoyu  c»x>|«  at  evxapicrias  e<£'  015  irpos- 
<jxpOfitOa  irao-iK  o<n)  Surofut  H'LVOVTK. — Apol. 

t  Owen's  Works,  vols.  iv.  and  xix.  London,  1826.  Dr.  Owen  has  with  great  care 
examined  the  question  before  us,  and  the  study  of  his  powerful  treatises  we  would 
earnestly  recommend  as  especially  seasonable  at  the  present  time. 


APPENDIX.  365 

Liturgies,  apart  from  their  intrinsic  incongeniality  with  the  spirit  of 
Christianity,  that  they  are  unfavorable  to  the  object  of  Christianity 
in  these  two  respects  : 

1.  The  extension  of  the  Gospel.     Liturgies  suppose  churches  al- 
ready organized,  power  in  the  people  to  read,  &c.,  difficulties  which, 
we  think,  can  not  be  embraced  in  any  judicious  plan  for  evangelizing 
the  heathen :  How  could  Brainerd  have  conducted  public  worship 
among  his  Indians  had  he  been  compelled  to  use  a  prayer-book  1 

2.  Particularity  in  the  offices  of  public  devotion  :  Liturgies  can  not 
anticipate  the  various  occasions  and  circumstances  which  demand 
distinct  reference  and  mention  in  prayer.    The  life  of  prayer  con- 
sists, in  a  great  degree,  in  its  suitableness  to  times  and  providences, 
and  in  particularity  of  petition.     Herein  Liturgies  must  needs  be  de- 
ficient :  The  state  of  the  flock  and  the  aspect  of  affairs  are  contin- 
ually varying,  but  the  Liturgy  does  not  vary.    The  words,  for  gen- 
eral purposes,  may  be  suitable ;  but  they  must  be  always  read  as 
they  stand ;  and  the  new  exigences  rising  up  daily,  and  demanding 
distinct  notice  at  the  throne  of  grace,  must  be  passed  over  with  a 
generality  of  expression,  which  covers  many  other  things  as  well 
as  them.     Surely  that  can  not  be  the  best  way  of  conducting  public 
worship  which,  in  its  very  nature,  has  so  great  an  inconvenience  and 
defect. 

There  are,  however,  objections  against  free  prayer  which  ought 
not  to  be  overlooked.    The  chief  objections  are  these  two : 

1.  Extemporaneous  or  free  prayer  produces  confusion  in  the 
minds  of  the  worshipers.  "  The  congregation,  in  extemporaneous 
prayer,"  says  Dr.  Paley,  "  being  ignorant  of  each  petition  before  they 
hear  it,  and  having  little  or  no  time  to  join  in  after  they  have  heard 
it,  are  confounded  between  their  attention  to  the  minister  and  their 
own  devotion.  Their  devotion  is  necessarily  suspended  till  the  pe- 
tition is  concluded;  and  before  they  can  adopt  it,  their  attention  is 
required  to  what  follows.  Extemporary  prayer  can  not,  for  this  rea- 
son, be  joint  prayer.  Joint  prayer  is  that  in  which  all  join,  and  not 
that  which  one  alone  in  the  congregation  conceives  and  delivers."* 
*  Works,  vol.  i.,  p.  314. 


366  APPENDIX. 

This  argument  confutes  itself  by  proving  too  much.  It  proves 
that  all  that  portion  of  mankind  who  can  not  read  can  take  no  part 
in  public  prayer.  It  proves  that  when  the  disciples  prayed  for  Peter 
(Acts,  xii.),  and  lifted  up  their  voices  together  in  prayer  after  the  re- 
turn of  Peter  and  John  from  the  council  (Acts,  iv.),  they  did  not  unite 
in  prayer  on  these  occasions.  It  concludes,  moreover,  as  much 
against  a  joint  hearing  of  the  word  as  against  joint  praying.  Truth 
from  the  pulpit  can  not  be  acquiesced  in  by  the  hearers  until  after 
its  announcement  is  completed;  It  must  be  heard  before  it  can  be 
considered ;  but  how  can  it  be  considered,  since  the  discourse  runs 
on,  and  a  subsequent  announcement  is  continually  calling  off  atten- 
tion from  a  previous  one  1 

The  truth  is,  that  this  argument  rests  on  difficulties  which  are 
wholly  imaginary.  The  supposition  that  the  attention  of  the  hearers 
is  suspended — that  they  are  confounded  between  their  own  devotion 
and  attention  to  the  minister,  &c.,  is  groundless.  The  movements 
of  the  human  mind  are  quicker  than  this  argument  assumes  them  to 
be.  The  mind  takes  in  the  most  of  what  is  said,  whether  in  prayer 
or  preaching,  without  any  measurable  lapse  of  time.  Even  in  ar- 
gumentative discourse,  the  attention  of  the  hearers  keeps  pace  with 
the  speaker,  and  sometimes  anticipates  him.  Discourse  may,  in- 
deed, be  so  ordered  as  to  confound  attention,  but  it  need  not,  and 
should  not  be. 

2.  The  imperfection  of  extemporaneous  or  free  prayer.  It  is 
often  incomprehensive,  omitting  many  things  which  ought  to  be 
in  public  prayer :  It  is  often  loose  and  inconsecutive  :  It  is  often 
full  of  faults  as  to  diction :  It  is  often  delivered  in  a  hesitating, 
stammering  manner,  &c.,  &c.  In  reply,  we  say,  in  the  first  place, 
that  faults  here  are  to  be  set  over  against  faults — the  faults  of 
free  prayer  against  the  faults  of  Liturgies  ;  recollecting,  moreover, 
this  difference,  that  the  faults  of  liturgical  worship  are,  for  the 
most  part,  inseparable  from  it,  while  the  faults  of  free  pi  ayer  may, 
perhaps,  be  corrected:  In  the  second  place,  that  advantages,  too, 
are  to  be  compared  with  advantages ;  to  lose  those  of  free  prayer 
would  be  to  suffer  a  loss  which  were  worse  to  the  Church  than  all 


APPENDIX.  367 

the  faults  of  this  mode  of  worship  many  times  multiplied.  What 
could  compensate  the  Church  for  the  loss  of  all  that  benefit  which 
she  has  received  and  is  to  receive  from  the  exercise  of  the  gift  of 
prayer  in  public,  on  the  part  of  holy  men  filled  with  faith  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  furnished  by  him  specifically  for  the  performance 
of  this  important  part  of  divine  service  ?  We  add,  thirdly,  that  if  free 
prayer  be  imperfect,  the  door  to  perfection  is  open  to  it ;  whereas 
the  Liturgy  must  not  be  changed,  while  the  need  of  a  change  in 
some  things  is,  by  many  who  use  it,  admitted  and  deplored.  The 
character  of  free  prayer  will  vary,  of  course,  with  the  various  gifts 
and  graces  of  ministers,  and  the  various  measures  of  aid  afforded 
them  by  the  Spirit  at  the  time  of  prayer,  and  there  may,  of  course, 
be  instances  in  which  the  faults  of  performance  will  be  unusually 
great ;  but  not  to  insist  that  the  reading  of  the  Liturgy  may  vary 
with  the  reader's  gifts,  so  that,  in  some  instances,  the  faults  of  per- 
foqnance  may  be  almost  equivalent  to  faults  in  the  Liturgy  itself,  the 
absolute  uniformity  of  liturgical  worship  may  be  more  hurtful,  as  we 
believe  it  to  be  in  fact,  than  all  the  faults  which  are  incidental  to  the 
other  mode,  and  which,  we  should  not  forget,  may,  to  a  great  extent, 
be  corrected  by  general  proficiency  in  piety,  and  by  suitable  pains  di- 
rected particularly  to  that  end.  It  is  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of 
free  prayer  to  be  directly  studious  as  to  either  expression,  or  order, 
or  thought  at  the  time  of  offering  it ;  but  there  is  a  way  of  making 
proficiency  in  the  exercise  of  this  gift,  and  a  minister  who  neglects 
the  cultivation  of  it  disregards  the  charge  of  the  apostle  (1  Tim.,  iv., 
15),  in  regard,  at  least,  to  one  part  of  his  work,  and  one  of  no  inferior 
importance. 

We  have  not  meant  to  say,  we  do  not  think,  that  the  spirit  of  life 
and  liberty  in  prayer  can  make  no  use  of  forms.  In  its  full  realiza- 
tion, it  is  indeed  above  all  forms ;  but  in  its  inferior  spheres  it  may 
sometimes  serve  itself  of  forms  with  great  advantage  ;  and  in  such 
a  Liturgy  as  that,  for  example,  which  is  used  by  Episcopalians,  the 
best  extant,  it  may,  occasionally  at  least,  find  itself  much  more  in  its 
proper  element  than  in  free  prayer  itself,  as  it  is  too  often  performed. 

In  conclusion,  let  us  say  that  while  we  have  no  desire  that  litur- 


368  APPENDIX. 

gical  worship  should  be  abolished ;  while  we  suppose  it  probable  that 
worship  in  the  Christian  Church,  on  the  whole,  is  better  than  it  would 
be  if  this  mode  of  worship  formed  no  part  of  it,  we  can  not  but  lament 
that  any  denomination  which  prefers  this  mode  should  not  combine 
free  prayer  with  it,  and  give  its  ministers  some  degree  of  liberty  in 
regard  to  it :  And  that,  on  the  other  hand,  we  greatly  regret  to  see, 
in  the  denominations  in  which  free  prayer  has  been  conscientiously 
preferred,  any  dissatisfaction  with  it  on  account  of  the  faults  which 
are  incidental  to  it,  and  any  appearance  of  a  desire  to  introduce  forms. 


NOTE  K,  p.  231. 
On  the  Use  of  the  Catechism. 

"  DECLENSION  In  the  Christian  faith  has  had  no  more  direct  cause, 
no  more  evident  symptom,  than  the  absolute  substitution  of  the  Gat- 
echism  for  the  Bible  in  the  religious  instruction  of  children :  And  the 
revival  of  Christianity  in  Protestant  countries  has,  on  the  whole,  been 
produced  and  characterized  by  the  preference  given  to  the  Bible 
above  the  Catechism,  not  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Catechism,  but  lim- 
iting it  to  its  only  reasonable  use,  which  is  to  supply  the  reader  of 
the  Bible  with  a  summary  of  biblical  truth.  When  the  Bible  shall 
have  its  place  in  the  religious  instruction  of  children,  there  must 
needs  be  a  revision  of  the  Catechism ;  and  he  only  will  perform  this 
office  well  who  shall  have  taught  Christianity  first  from  the  Bible : 
And  we  think  we  may  guarantee  that  this  kind  of  manual  will  then 
be  conceived  and  prepared  differently  from  the  best  of  those  which 
have  been  hitherto  in  use.  But  what  is  of  the  greatest  urgency,  is 
to  bring  those  poor  children  to  the  fountain,  and  also  to  let  them  drink 
at  it,  who,  until  now,  have  had  administered  unto  them  drop  by  drop, 
as  if  it  were  a  medical  potion,  the  water  of  life,  which,  by  its  passage 
through  such  long  and  old  tubes  of  human  manufacture,  has  been 
rendered  insipid,  and  has  even  become  corrupt. 

"  After  it  shall  be  discovered  that  many  Catechisms  which  have  been 
authorized  and  consecrated  by  long  use  were  made  in  violation  of 


APPENDIX.  369 

logic  and  common  sense,  presenting  the  Christian  doctrines  in  an  in- 
coherent state,  which  destroyed  their  true  meaning,  and  in  a  state  of 
contradiction,  wherein  some  are  made  to  annul  others ;  in  brief,  after 
Catechisms  shall  have  been  made  as  good  as  possible,  it  will  be  no 
less  necessary  to  remove  them  from  the  place  which  they  have 
usurped,  and  to  make  holy  Scripture  the  chief  Catechism.  But  it 
does  not  hence  follow  that  we  are  to  put  the  Bible  into  the  hands  of 
children ;  this  would  be  neither  useful  nor  proper.  Arid  the  idea  has 
hence  occurred  of  extracting  textually  every  thing  which  it  is  neces- 
sary to  know  in  order  to  be  a  Christian ;  that  is,  to  extract  from  the 
Bible  whatever  is  intelligible  to  a  child.  This,  in  fact,  is  the  plan  on 
which  this  divine  Book  has  been  conceived :  It  is  a  river,  we  are 
told,  in  which  an  elephant  may  swim,  and  a  ford  which  a  child  may 
cross  without  drowning.  The  question  is  not  whether  we  shall  swim 
or  walk,  but  whether  we  shall  get  across ;  and  the  child  must  cross 
as  well  as  the  adult.  Now,  to  become  a  Christian,  or,  according  to 
the  expression  of  the  Gospel,  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  we 
must  return  to  infancy — we  must  become  a  child.  I  admit  that  the 
infancy  must  be  a  voluntary  one,  and  that  it  is  only  as  such  that  it  is 
of  any  value  or  utility ;  even  a  child  himself  is  not  a  true  Christian 
until  he  has  ceased  to  be  a  child  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word ;  he 
must  become  one  of  choice  and  of  reason ;  but  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that,  in  order  to  become  a  Christian,  we  must  accept  the  verities  of 
the  Bible  in  the  sense  and  in  the  simplicity  in  which  a  child  appre- 
hends them." — A.  VJNET  :  Article  sur  ISHistoire  Sainte,  extraite  de  le 
Bible,  par  M.  MOREL. 


NOTE  L,  page  339. 

Thoughts  of  Bengcl  upon  the  Exercise  of  the  Ministry. 
Taken  from  his  Life  by  Burk :  Pamphlet  published  by  M.  Vinet  in  1842. 
I.  "A  PASTOR  should  be  divinely  assured  in  respect  to  his  occupa- 
tion— that  is  to  say,  his  vocation  to  the  ministry  of  reconciliation,  as 
well  as  in  respect  to  the  truths  which  he  preaches ;  he  should  be  able 

0,2 


370  APPENDIX. 

to  produce  the  certificate  of  his  spiritual  birth;  he  should  be  firmly 
resolved  to  promote  the  glory  of  God ;  to  live  for  Christ,  and  to  serve 
him ;  to  gain  heaven  for  himself,  and  for  many  others  with  him. 

II.  "A  pastor  should  give  himself  entirely  up  to  his  work  ;  should 
throw  himself  bravely  into  the  midst  of  the  conflict ;  and,  whatever 
may  happen,  should  never  allow  himself  to  be  cast  down.  In  order 
to  this,  he  must  consider : 

1.  "That  the  third  Sunday  after  Trinity  has  never  passed  without 
having  given  occasion  for  joy  in  heaven  over  a  sinner  gained  by  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel;  and  that  this  single  grain  of  wheat,  even 
after  a  long  delay,  is  for  him  who  gathers  it  a  rare  refreshment. 

2.  "  That  crosses  in  life  help  us  to  know  ourselves  better,  humble 
us  before  God,  and  make  us  pray  with  greater  fervor  for  the  mani- 
festation of  that  Spirit,  before  whom  doubt  is  silent  and  quieted. 

3.  "That  those  who  have  received,  who  believe,  who  publish  the 
message  of  grace,  have  no  less  need  than  others  of  the  patience  of 
God.     How  long  has  he  to  wait  before  they  produce  any  thing  in 
conformity  with  his  will  1    How  much  wisdom  from  him  is  necessary 
in  order  to  extract  any  thing  good  from  so  much  weakness  and  so 
much  impurity  '    And  shall  they  themselves  be  impatient  7 

4.  "  That  it  is  not  the  pastor's  fault  if  he  be  born  in  a  disastrous 
time  in  which  it  is  very  difficult  to  do  good  ;  in  a  time  when  injus- 
tice having  trampled  upon  the  weak,  and  devoured  the  substance  of 
the  poor,  it  is  no  wonder  if  his  preaching  remains  without  fruit ;  in 
a  time  when  authority  itself,  though  recognizing  the  evil,  hardly  takes 
the  trouble  to  remedy  it,  and  sees,  without  dismay,  the  great  crush- 
ing the  weak. 

5.  "That  God  (Ezek.,  ix.,  4)  set  a  mark  upon  the  foreheads  of  all 
those  who  deplored  the  prevalence  of  public  sins,  that  they  might 
prevent  the  chastisement  which  was  coming. 

6.  "That  a  pastor  is  strengthened  by  what  others  achieve  for  the 
kingdom  of  God,  when  he  humbly  rejoices  over  the  good  which  has 
been  done  without  him.     He  thus  makes  the  works  of  others  his 
own,  while  he  escapes  the  danger  of  self-complacency. 

7.  "  That  even  \vl»en  souls  are  not  positively  gained  by  truly  evan- 


APPENDIX.  371 

gelical  preaching,  they  are,  nevertheless,  somewhat  softened  and 
prepared  by  the  clear  knowledge  of  spiritual  things.  H.  Franeke  test- 
ified, after  long  experience,  that  the  parishioners  of  a  courageous 
pastor  are  always  in  the  end  more  tractable  and  gentle. 

"  When  God  grants  a  richer  harvest  to  a  pastor,  it  does  not  always 
follow  that  this  pastor  is  more  acceptable  to  him  than  others.  Sur- 
geons have  various  instruments :  some  they  use  daily,  others  very 
rarely,  and  only  for  particular  cases  :  They  do  not  prefer  one  of  these 
instruments  to  the  others.  It  is  only  the  last  stroke  of  the  axe  which 
fells  the  tree ;  but  if  one  man  gives  fifty  strokes,  another  thirty,  a 
last  only  two,  who  can  tell  which  of  the  wood-cutters  has  been  most 
useful,  and  which  blow  most  contributed  to  prostrate  the  tree!  It 
is  thus  in  regard  to  the  work  wlu'eh  is  accomplished  in  souls. 

III.  "A  pastor  should  be  like  the  lien  who  takes  her  chickens  un- 
der her  wings,  and  sometimes  even  lets  them  mount  upon  her  back. 
We  can  not  force  confidence  and  freedom;  charity  alono  can  cull 
them  forth :  Friendly  intercourse  often  does  more  good  than  much 
reasoning  and  many  sermons.    When  heated  by  the  sun,  the  traveler 
spontaneously  unbuttons  his  coat.     A  single  pigeon  that  voluntarily 
enters  the  pigeon-house,  is  worth  more  than  a  great  number  which 
have  been  forced  to  enter.     It  would  be  well  for  all  if  the  habit  of 
familiarly  asking  questions  and  friendly  conversation  prevailed.     I 
believe  that  this  might  be  successful  even  with  the  unconverted. 

IV.  "The  pastor  should  not  altogether  avoid  intercourse  with  the 
people  of  the  world  ;  but  he  should  guard  himself  against  partaking 
of  their  sins.    By  hearing  witness,  in  our  familiar  intercourse,  to  the 
same  truths  which  we  solemnly  teach  from  the  pulpit,  the  mind  re- 
ceives more  impression  than  it  allows  us  to  perceive.     Many  of  the 
seeds  we  sow  are  lost,  but  still  something  remains.    When  it  snows, 
and  the  ground  is  wet,  the  snow,  as  it  falls,  seems  to  be  absorbed  into 
the  earth ;  but,  by  constant  falling,  it  forms,in  the  end,  a  white  cov- 
ering :  sparge,  sparge,  quam  poles. 

V.  "  There  is  reason  to  be  concerned  about  a  paster  when  he  does 
not  seek  the  company  of  true  Christians.     His  occupation  degener- 
ates by  degrees  into  a  common  trade  ;  and  there  are  many  who  ex- 


372  APPENDIX. 

ercise  it  for  their  own  convenience,  as  men  do  any  other  trade,  or  who 
allow  themselves  to  seek  the  good  things  of  this  world — although, 
truly,  we  can  not  cite  many  examples  of  rich  pastors.  Faithful  souls 
are  the  pastor's  hand ;  himself  is  the  eye ;  the  hand  may  bear,  may 
push,  may  raise,  and  render  4tself  very  useful  to  the  eye. 

VI.  "  Experience  teaches  that  many  souls  may  be  savingly  reached 
by  preaching ;  but  the  work  of  grace  can  be  fully  accomplished  in 
them  only  by  means  of  individual  treatment ;  hence  great  importance 
should  be  attached  to  private  labors.    The  pastor  often  obtains  more 
fruit  from  his  visits  than  from  his  public  preaching.     He  should  al- 
ways show  himself  equally  well  disposed  to  go  wherever  he  is  called ; 
and  those  whose  spiritual  necessities  draw  them  to  him,  should,  by  his 
hearty  welcome,  feel  themselves  encouraged  to  open  themselves  to 
him  with  perfect  freedom :   He  should  show  pleasure  in  meeting 
neighbors  in  the  house  where  he  is  visiting. 

VII.  "  The  principal  rule  to  be  observed  in  the  direction  of  souls  is 
to  do  nothing  of  our  own  will,  and  every  thing  that  we  know  to  be 
according  to  the  will  of  God.    We  should  approach  those  souls  of 
which  we  have  some  hope  in  their  calmer  moments.     To  those  who 
rebel  and  harden  their  hearts  we  must  always  present  the  word  of 
God.     We  must  endeavor  to  prepare  the  way  in  an  agreeable  man- 
ner for  the  subjects  of  which  we  wish  to  speak,  beginning  with  indif- 
ferent things,  and  gradually  leading  the  way  to  replies  without  form- 
ally asking  questions.    When  we  have  occasion  to  see  people  every 
day,  it  is  well  to  wait  for  a  favorable  moment.     But  if  occasions  are 
rare,  or  if  we  should  only  have  one  opportunity,  we  must  guard 
against  suffering  it  to  escape  without  bearing  our  witness.     If  such 
persons  were  to  die  suddenly,  it  would  be  a  great  cause  of  anxiety 
to  the  pastor  that  he  should  have  neglected  to  testify  the  Gospel  to 
them  ;  and,  in  a  contrary  case,  how  greatly  would  he  rejoice  in  hav- 
ing been  faithful !    Moreover,  we  should  not  yield  too  much  to  anx- 
iety ;  it  is  productive  of  much  harm.    We  should  act  in  concert 
with  God,  not  with  ourselves ;  so  that  we  might  afterward  be  able 
to  say,  '  I  have  done,  0  God,  according  as  thou  hast  commanded.' 
Then,  certainly,  we  shall  receive  a  divine  answer  in  the  time  of 


APPENDIX.  373 

need.  A  single  word,  a  look,  a  ray_  of  light,  may  work  great  things 
in  a  soul  when  we  have  found  its  true  point  of  concern,  and  the 
right  moment.  It  was  one  day  said  to  a  man  whose  wife  was  ill, 
'  You  have  now  a  sanctuary  in  your  house.'  These  words  sank  into 
his  heart,  and  did  him  much  good.  To  be  able  to  use  happy  words, 
which  hit  directly,  is  a  great  gift. 

VIII.  "  When  souls  are  to  be  gained  to  God,  we  should  despise 
nothing ;  however  few  they  may  be,  we  should  convince  them  that 
we  think  it  of  great  importance  to  lead  them  to  the  Lord. 

IX.  "  Despair  absolutely  of  no  one.     If  we  see  a  fault  in  any  one, 
make  it  known  to  him,  and  endeavor  to  lead  him  to  correct  it :  And, 
whether  we  succeed  in  this  or  not,  let  us  endeavor  to  discover  or  to 
develop  whatever  good  there  may  be  in  him. 

X.  "  I  think  it  very  important  not  to  heap  together  indiscriminately 
arguments  and  motives,  mingling  the  weak  with  the  strong,  to  make 
up  a  number.    They  only  injure  one  another.     It  is  better  to  pro- 
duce only  one  decisive  argument  and  adhere  to  it. 

XI.  "  There  are  souls  which,  in  proportion  as  we  urge  them  and 
seek  to  penetrate  into  them,  seem  to  offer  less  footing,  and  escape 
from  us  like  a  subtile  vapor.     We  must  wait^  keep  ourselves  tran- 
quil, and  be  willing  to  delay  some  time  before  we  see  the  fruits  of 
our  ministry.     The  state  of  passivity,  of  which  Tauler  and  others 
speak,  is  too  little  known  to  those  who  so  much  wish  to  precipitate 
their  own  activity  and  that  of  others.     Often,  in  such  a  state,  more 
reflections  pass  through  the  soul  in  a,  single  moment  than,  in  other 
states,  in  many  months  ;  and  this  advantage  is  much  surer  and  more 
durable  than  a  forced  and  factitious  success.    There  are  souls  for 
which  it  is  well,  because  of  the  temptations  of  the  evil  world,  that 
they  remain  until  death  undeveloped,  or  in  the  state  of  a  bud,  and  do 
not  reveal  themselves  and  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  life  until  at  the 
moment  of  departure.     Let  those  remember  this,  for  their  consola- 
tion, who  are  charged  with  the  care  of  souls.    We  are  to  do  what 
can  be  done  kindly,  freely,  and  with  a  joyful  heart,  and  leave  the  rest 
to  the  Chief  Shepherd,  saying,  with  Moses,  '  Is  it,  then,  I  that  have 
begotten  this  people  1' 


374  APPENDIX. 

XII.  "  It  is  very  necessary  that  the  pastor  should  have  the  gift  of 
discernment.    Where  there  is  a  genuine  life,  it  sustains  itself.     But 
when  the  pastor  is  always  wishing  to  arrange  and  prepare  souls, 
they  allow  it  to  be  done  for  them,  and  fall  into  indolence.    The  pa- 
triarch Abraham  (who  lived  in  the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian 
era)  left  persons  to  themselves  after  having  led  them  on  to  say,  '  I 
believe  in  God  the  Father  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.'    Christ  him- 
self said  to  his  disciples,  '  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away ;' 
and  the  eunuch  of  Queen  Candace  was  left  alone  as  soon  as  he  had 
been  baptized.     If  I  had  a  tree  at  which  I  was  always  cutting  and 
digging,  I  do  not  believe  it  would  prosper  any  the  more  on  that  ac- 
count.    As  a  child  just  beginning  to  walk  is  never  so  sure  to  fall 
as  when  we  exclaim  to  him,  '  Do  not  fall,'  so  it  is  when  we  wish  to 
obtain  from  souls  by  force  actus  reflexos  (great  efforts,  in  order  to 
have  a  distinct  knowledge  of  their  state  of  grace  and  of  their  prog- 
ress in  sanctification).     There  are  souls  whose  whole  business  con- 
sists in  actibus  directis  (free  action  proceeding  from  faith  and  love). 
These  are  those  who  advance  best ;  and  if  we  should  awkwardly 
push  them  forward,  we  should  only  intimidate  them,  or  turn  them 
aside.    There  are  others,  doubtless,  who  need  to  be  urged  ;  hence 
we  should  ever  ask  and  seek  a  discerning  mind. 

XIII.  "  What  is  the  essential  thing  in  the  pastorate  1     It  is  what 
is  so  often  called  in  the  Psalms  jaschar — uprightness ;  it  may  be 
compared  to  a  straight  line,  in  which  there  is  nothing  oblique,  noth- 
ing double ;  which  avoids  heights  and  depths,  and  is  the  road  that 
leads  most  directly  to  the  end. 

XIV.  "  Dear  pastors  !  let  us  fill  our  hearts  with  love  for  Christ.    It 
is  this  love  which  makes  us  serene,  courageous,  active  ;  it  makes  us 
penetrate  into  the  true  state  of  a  soul,  and  discovers  to  us  the  road 
in  which  we  should  lead  it.     We  should  establish  closer  relations 
with  our  parishioners,  remind  ourselves  constantly  that  we  have  be- 
fore us  men  like  ourselves.    What  do  we  do  in  times  of  pestilence 
or  other  public  calamities  1     We  mingle  and  are  confounded  with  the 
crowd  for  the  common  welfare,  without  remembering  the  vain  dis- 
tinctions of  rank  and  talent.    If  we  act  thus  toward  a  man,  we  may 


APPENDIX.  375 

hope  to  make  him  in  a  manner  our  prisoner,  and  to  dispose  of  him  as 
we  wish. 

XV.  "  I  would  leave  to  each  soul  the  particular  foundation  of  its 
faith ;  even  if  the  premises  be  feeble,  provided  the  conclusion  be  just, 
that  is  sufficient.     It  is  as  with  a  child  who  tries  its  first  steps  across 
the  chamber,  and  holds  on  to  its  own  dress ;  if  it  advance,  we  freely 
allow  it  this  imaginary  help.     With  how  much  delicacy  should  man 
be  treated  !     If  the  cords  be  stretched  too  tight,  they  will  relax  again 
the  more  quickly,  and  the  soul  will  incline  to  that  side  which  we 
wished  to  make  it  avoid. 

XVI.  "  As  to  private  meetings,  it  is  desirable  that,  under  the  pre- 
text of  public  order,  we  should  not  disturb  gqod  souls  in  those  exer- 
cises of  which  they  have  need ;  and  that  at  those  hours  in  which 
others  assemble  to  amuse  themselves,  it  should  be  allowed  to  them 
to  assemble  for  their  edification.     I  see  here,  also,  a  swarm  from  the 
parent  hive — a  good  swarm,  which  we  must  shelter  with  care,  in- 
stead of  allowing  it  to  go  astray. 

XVII.  "  I  can  not  understand  the  desire  to  forbid  meetings.    Should 
we,  then,  require  every  one  to  be  pious  for  himself  alone  ?     It  is  as  if, 
seeing  some  persons  setting  out  together  on  a  journey,  I  should  rec- 
ommend them  not  to  walk  in  company,  but  to  keep  themselves  a 
gunshot  apart. 

XVIII.  "  Disease  supposes  life :  Wherever  a  spiritual  malady  is 
found,  there  must  be  also  spiritual  life.    The  ungodly  are  perfectly 
dead.     Why  should  the  pastor  reject  or  treat  severely  children  of 
God  because  there  is  something  in  them  to  reprove  1     Should  we 
not  rather  take  means  to  join  ourselves  with  them,  and  to  offer  them 
the  remedy  which  they  need  1 

XIX.  "  There  are  persons  who  value  meetings  too  highly,  and  who 
appear  to  think  themselves  better  because  they  take  part  in  the 
exercises.     But  neither  are  they  the  only  pious  ones,  nor  are  even 
all  of  them  pious.    There  are  excellent  souls  who  do  not  go  to  meet- 
ings ;  and  in  meetings,  aselsewhere,  there  are  some  hypocrites.    The 
same  man  does  not  take  the  same  view  as  a  spectator  and  as  a  judge. 
Destroy  not  the  work  of  God.     Do  we  not  allow  each  one  to  pursue 


376  APPENDIX. 

his  own  course  in  ordinary  life  1  We  should  be  more  indulgent  in 
little  things,  that  we  may  have  the  more  right  to  insist  upon  the 
great  things.  We  should  not  be  too  ready  to  comfort  those  who  are 
despised  by  the  world  because  of  their  frequent  attendance  on  meet- 
ings ;  this  contempt  may  be  good  and  salutary  for  them.  If  my  serv- 
ants were  coarse  and  rude  to  my  daughters,  I  should  at  first  say 
nothing,  for  these  servants  may  spare  me  somewhat  of  paternal  dis- 
cipline. 

XX.  "  In  these  times  there  is  so  much  lukcwarmnets,  that  it  is  not 
possible  to  establish  between  the  pastor  and  his  flock  that  mutual 
acquaintance  and  that  intimacy  which  can  only  exist  in  a  church  of 
which  all  the  members  are  converted :  This  favorable  moment  has 
not  yet  come.  Many  things  are  needed  in  order  to  create  a  true 
community  :  There  should  be  experience  and  much  knowledge.  A 
community  should  have  the  spirit  of  discernment,  and  members  ca- 
pable of  loading  others  ;  otherwise  it  would  seem  that  we  were  met 
together  only  to  trouble  each  other.  Let  us  take  care  that  brotherly 
love  does  not  become  a  farce:  Alas!  this  is  veiy  common;  we  are 
hypocritical  toward  each  other ;  we  seek  to  please  each  other ;  we  neg- 
lect reproof,  admonition,  the  encouragement  of  charity.  There  are 
people  who,  having  neither  humility  nor  charity,  nothing  of  the  spirit 
of  Christ,  are  yet  distinguished  by  their  zeal  in  forming  associations 
and  meetings-:  Is  not  this  playing  a  farce  1  In  a  community  of  broth- 
ers there  must  be  communion  of  prayers,  and  laws  to  which  all  are 
subject,  without,  however,  binding  the  individual  to  time  and  form ; 
for  the  tighter  the  knot  is  drawn,  the  nearer  it  is  to  breaking.  There 
are  persons  who  continue  because  they  have  begun,  and  in  order  not 
to  draw  upon  themselves  the  reproach  of  inconstancy.  The  more 
spiritual  exercises  and  intimacies  increase,  the  more  we  should  guard 
against  the  spirit  of  imitation.  What  should  we  think  of  two  travel- 
ers, each  of  whom  had  his  own  road,  and  was  even  required  to  make 
that  road  for  himself,  if  one  should  constantly  tread  in  the  footprints 
of  the  other  1  Can  they  not  walk  near  enough  to  each  other,  and 
yet  follow  each  his  own  road  1  We  should  not  force  each  other,  but 
all  together  should  be  impelled  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Lord.  But 


APPENDIX.  377 

there  are  undoubtedly  persons  who  constantly  withdraw  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,  and  fall  into  their  own  ways.  These  people 
continually  become  more  and  more  cold  and  idle  in  their  Christianity ; 
they  need  incessantly  to  be  followed,  and  allowed  no  repose.  He  who 
does  not  truly  believe  can  not  maintain  himself,  and  must  backslide. 

XXI.  "  Let  him  who  can  not  prevent  reigning  sins  groan  much  on 
their  account  before  God,  and  render  from  time  to  time  a  serious 
and  calm  testimony  against  them,  and  not  be  disturbed  whether  he 
be  listened  to  or  not :  The  pastor  should  take  example  from  certain 
persons  who  protest  against  the  violation  of  their  rights,  although  they 
know  very  well  that  their  protestation  will  be  useless ;  he  should 
continue  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth,  even  when  the  people  do  not 
seem  to  attend  to  it ;  something  of  it  will  always  return  to  him  in 
time,  and  meanwhile  he  will  have  satisfied  his  conscience :  A  river 
continues  to  flow,  whether  we  draw  water  from  it  or  whether  we 
throw  a  stone  into  it. 

XXII.  "  As  to  what  is  evidently  contrary  to  the  law  of  God,  the 
preacher  should  show  the  evil  of  it  with  all  the  seriousness  and 
clearness  which  are  necessary,  in  order  to  be  understood  by  every 
one.     He  should  not  let  himself  be  deterred  by  the  fear  of  men. 
Besides,  the  world  will  allow  bitter  truths  to  be  spoken  to  it.     It  is 
true  that  the  grief  and  humiliation  caused  by  reproaches  often  turn 
into  anger ;  but  afterward  we  are  ashamed  of  our  anger,  we  come  to 
ourselves  and  recognize  the  truth.    Undoubtedly,  all  reproof  should 
be  made  with  prudence,  and  in  order  to  this  : 

1.  "We  should  guard  against  evidently  useless  enterprises;  our 
credit  depends  upon  this  :  After  great  fighting  with  the  air,  the  finest 
triumphs  do  not  regain  us  the  good  opinion  of  men. 

2.  "  We  should  not  cherish  as  a  personal  offense  the  irritation 
caused  by  truth.     All  that  touches  us  only  should  glide  over  us. 

3.  "  We  should  try  to  seize  the  right  moment ;  nothing  irritates 
more  than  a  stroke  which  has  missed  its  mark ;  though  we  do  not 
feel  its  effect,  we  recognize  the  intention,  and  know  that  it  was 
meant  for  violence. 

4.  "  When  we  have  knowledge  of  a  person's  old  sins,  we  should 


378  APPENDIX. 

not  speak  to  him  of  them ;  we  should  wait  and  see  if  he  fall  into 
them  again :  this  we  should  consider  a  flagrant  offense ;  but  we 
should  not  stop  at  one  isolated  fact ;  we  should  have  regard  to  the 
general  state  of  the  individual. 

5.  "  We  should  show  impartiality,  charity,  and  compassion.    To 
have  succeeded  in  making  a  sinner  feel  that  we  do  not,  as  men, 
place  ourselves  above  him,  is  to  have  done  much  toward  gaining  his 
heart. 

6.  "  We  should  show  as  much  mildness  as  possible  in  our  exhort- 
ations.   A  golden  no  is  often  better  received  than  a  brutal  yes. 

7.  "  We  should  not  treat  all  men  indiscriminately  as  flagrant  sin- 
ners ;  it  would  be  the  way  to  teach  others  a  secret  phariseeism ; 
each  one  being  able  to  say  to  himself,  '  I  have  not  yet  gone  so  far; 
I,  however,  have  better  views ;  my  conduct  is  not  so  bad,'  etc. 

XXIII.  "  In  respect  to  the  things  which  may  be  ranged  among  the 
Adiaphora,  as  the  play,  the  dance,  etc.,  it  often  happens  that  we  ex- 
aggerate and  stretch  the  cord  too  tight.  We  should  not  judge  oth- 
ers according  to  ourselves  ;  we  can  not  give  them  our  eyes,  nor  our 
manner  of  seeing.  People  have  often  been  brought  up  in  such  a 
way  that  their  heart  is  like  leather,  even,  indeed,  like  wood.  If  I 
had  to  choose  between  the  natural  gayety  and  the  sorrow  of  an  im- 
penitent heart,  I  should  give  the  preference  to  the  first ;  it  is  an  im- 
age, false,  it  is  true,  but  an  image  of  the  happiness  of  God  ;  the  oth- 
er is  the  opposite  of  it.  We  give  the  name  of  sins  to  things  which 
are  only  a  simple  form  of  life,  and  which  have  sometimes  the  advant- 
age of  preventing  the  explosions  of  sin,  properly  so  called.  Un- 
doubtedly, these  things  do  not  take  place  in  heaven,  but  when  re- 
pentance comes,  it  is  not  the  remembrance  of  them  which  causes 
the  most  grief:  This  is  lost  in  the  general  regret  for  a  life  of  van- 
ity. The  taste  for  worldly  pleasures  is  the  natural  result  of  an  un- 
converted state,  and  is  quenched  of  itself  in  conversion.  We  should 
not,  then,  be  too  exacting ;  we  should  not  condemn  the  taste  for  the 
dance  and  amusements  of  this  kind  with  too  much  bitterness  and  a 
too  legal  spirit ;  we  should  not  establish  absolute  rules,  but  refer  peo- 
ple more  to  their  own  consciences,  teach  them  to  listen  to  these,  and 


APPENDIX.  379 

induce  them  to  avoid  those  things  which  they  enjoy  only  with  an 
internal  uneasiness.  Job  had  his  children  in  his  power  ;  he  did  not, 
however,  forbid  them  to  feast  together,  but  he  prayed  for  them. 
This  is  what  we  should  do  for  our  parishes  most  assiduously,  and 
particularly  in  times  of  public  rejoicing  ;  this  never  remains  without 
fruit,  while  the  law  engenders  wrath. 

"  It  does  not  follow,  from  what  we  have  said,  that  we  should  not 
take  advantage  of  occasions  to  tell  our  parishioners  our  way  of  think- 
ing on  these  subjects ;  we  should  show  them  that,  in  carrying  the 
use  of  their  liberty  to  excess,  without  considering  that  by  doing  so 
they  may  fall  into  sin,  they  act  like  those  who,  walking  along  the 
bank  of  a  river,  constantly  place  their  foot  as  near  the  water  as  pos- 
sible, while  yet  they  endeavor  to  keep  it  always  on  the  edge  and 
never  let  it  go  in.  They  should  take  care  that  these  vanities,  these 
luxuries  and  follies,  do  not  deprive  them  of  their  part  in  heaven,  and, 
even  here  below,  the  share  of  happiness  which  this  life  may  ofler ; 
they  should  consider  that  the  pleasure  which  they  take  in  these 
things  is  a  certain  mark  of  the  unregenerate  state  of  their  heart,  and 
that  they  will  see  all  things  with  other  eyes  when  God  shall  work  in 
their  heart  by  his  Spirit,  etc. 

"  The  pastor  should  also  guard  against  judging  all  his  parish  from 
the  noise  and  disorder  made  by  certain  bad  characters.  If,  standing 
on  the  bank  of  a  pond,  we  should  hear  nothing  but  the  croaking  of 
frogs,  we  should  not  imagine  that  there  are  no  fish  in  it. 

XXIV.  "Not  only  in  the  pulpit,  but  in  particular  interviews,  and 
whenever  the  occasion  for  doing  so  presents  itself  naturally,  should 
the  pastor  insist  upon  the  duty  of  renouncing  the  world  ;  but  he  should 
not  think  himself  obliged  to  correct,  at  one  stroke,  all  the  evil  with 
which  he  may  meet.  Let  him  be  directed,  in  this  respect,  by  the 
inspirations  of  the  Spirit  of  God :  At  one  time  we  may  keep  silence, 
and  groan  before  God  ;  at  another  we  may  feel  an  internal  impulse, 
whicli  gives  us  the  power  and  liberty  to  communicate  the  like  to 
those  with  whom  we  have  to  do.  If  we  feel  ourselves  pressed  to 
exhort  and  to  reprove,  we  should  do  very  wrong  not  to  do  so  imme- 
diately and  directly,  and  not  adjourn  the  discharge  of  this  duty  to 


380  APPENDIX. 

some  holiday,  some  visit  of  compliment  or  condolence ;  we  should 
also  do  very  wrong  in  taking  a  circuitous  way  to  arrive  at  our  end. 
If  we  reprove,  let  it  be  done  directly,  without  artifice,  with  a  cordial 
frankness :  Let  us  not  be  cunning  ;  experience  has  proved  that  this 
method  closes  hearts  instead  of  opening  them. 

XXV.  "  We  owe  respect  to  a  parish,  and  we  shall  be  wanting  in 
respect  if  we  do  not  set  it  the  example  of  an  exact  observance  of 
laws,  which,  moreover,  is  the  most  persuasive  way  of  preaching  or- 
der and  regularity.     Even  in  external  matters  which  concern  the 
Church,  we  must  show  accuracy,  regularity,  and  precision.    From 
want  of  exactitude  in  our  manner,  our  hearers  would  too  readily  con- 
clude that  our  doctrine  also  was  inexact.    How  can  they  believe  that 
we  have  fixed  principles  in  our  instruction  if  we  have  them  not  in  our 
functions  1     We  do  not  mean,  however,  that,  in  preaching,  respect 
for  forms  should  hinder  us  from  subjoining,  after  having  said  amen, 
this  or  that  good  thing  which  may  come  to  our  mind.     In  the  case 
of  Macarius,  we  find  that  often  a  homily  was  interrupted  by  some 
question  from  an  auditor,  and  that  he  would  reply  to  it,  even  when 
it  had  but  little  connection  with  the  subject.     I  should  like  to  see 
this  simplicity  still  prevailing  in  our  worship. 

XXVI.  "  From  the  nature  of  my  functions,  I  have  not  been  often 
called  to  the  sick  and  the  dying  ;  but  the  little  experience  that  I  have 
in  this  part  of  the  ministry  authorizes  me  in  affirming  what  follows : 

"  It  is  by  prayer  that  the  pastor  will  most  surely  obtain  spiritual 
wisdom,  a  tender  compassion  for  the  sick,  and  a  precise  view  of  what 
he  should  do.  Let  him  read,  or  take  for  his  subject  what  is  best  rel- 
ished by  the  sick  man,  and  let  him  apply  it  to  his  particular  case, 
without  asking  him  at  first  if  he  has  always  depended  much  upon 
these  truths  :  It  is  better  to  lead  him  on  gradually  to  a  free  confes- 
sion. Much  is  gained  when  the  sick  man  comes  of  his  own  accord 
to  compare  his  present  experience  with  his  former  ways.  Where 
hypocrisy  is  not  manifest,  it  is  not  prudent  to  overturn  every  thing, 
and  to  make  the  soul  think  that  we  take  no  account  of  any  of  the 
movements  which  grace  has  wrought  in  it,  and  of  which  it  has  still 
the  remembrance.  Let  us  rather  seize  the  feeblest  footing  that  it 


APPENDIX.  381 

may  offer  us,  in  order  to  raise  it  up :  Increasing  tight  always  leads  to 
a  more  complete  recognition  of  the  defects  and  the  darkness  of  the 
past.  In  this  manner  we  acquire  more  facility  in  leading  the  sick 
man  on  to  those  individual  applications  which  have  so  much  import- 
ance. In  the  case  of  very  notorious  sinners — of  ravishers  and  vo- 
luptuaries, for  example — there  is  often  despair ;  and  we  are  obliged 
to  begin  by  showing  them  that,  though  their  case  is  a  serious  one, 
there  is  still  ground  of  hope.  This  despair  sometimes  induces  them 
to  say, "  I  am  lost ;  I  belong  to  the  devil,"  which  gives  us  occasion 
to  make  them  consider  their  state  of  sin  in  general  and  in  detail, 
and  also  to  lead  them  to  the  free  grace  of  God :  According  as  it  may 
seem  to  us  most  suitable,  we  should  dwell  more  on  one  point  than 
another — on  repentance,  or  on  faith,  or  on  devotion  to  the  will  of  God. 
We  must  beware  of  saying  too  much.  In  visiting  very  sick  persons, 
we  may  have  two  opposite  experiences :  there  are  some  who  find 
that  the  pastor's  visit  does  them  good,  and  is  agreeable  to  them ; 
others  are  wearied  by  it :  we  should  study  different  cases  with  care, 
and  conform  ourselves  to  the  necessities  of  the  sick  man  ;  know 
when  it  is  best  to  be  silent,  and  when  to  speak.  If  the  sick  man 
shows  himself  inaccessible  when  we  wish  to  make  him  confess  his 
state  of  sin,  we  must  anticipate  him  by  prayer,  and  put  into  his  mouth 
what  we  wished  him  to  have  spoken  of  himself.  A  man  willingly  al- 
lows himself  to  be  accused  when  he  is  placed  face  to  face  with  God 
by  prayer;  it  is  not  so  easy  to  induce  him  to  relate  his  sins  before 
men,  particularly  when  there  are  all  sorts  of  persons  present  to  hear 
him. 

"  There  are  sick  persons,  particularly  among  the  old,  who  consider 
suffragans  and  young  pastors  as  people  of  very  good  intention,  un- 
doubtedly, but  who  have  too  little  experience  of  life  to  know  that  the 
evangelical  law  is  not  always  to  be  taken  according  to  the  letter. 
We  should  strive  to  remove  this  prejudice  by  turning  away  their  at- 
tention from  the  ins'trument,  and  fixing  it  upon  immutable  and  eter- 
nal truth.  It  is  well  to  make  them  understand  that  our  only  concern 
with  them  is  the  salvation  of  their  souls,  since  we  have  nothing  to 
gain  by  preaching  to  them  in  one  way  rather  than  in  another. 


382  APPKNDIX. 

In  private  communions  especially,  we  have  a  good  opportunity  for 
unfolding  all  the  treasures  of  the  love  of  Christ.  But  we  must 
strongly  oppose  the  opus  operatum  mistake,  which  attributes  merit 
to  external  works,  and  particularly  to  the  external  participation  in 
the  sacrament :  we  must  combat  this,  whether  we  address  ourselves 
to  the  past,  the  present,  or  the  future  •,  and  before,  during,  and  after 
the  communion,  insist  upon  the  sick  man's  seeking  his  peace  no- 
where but  in  the  grace  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ. 

"  The  pastor  should  strive,  as  much  as  possible,  to  lose  no  opportu- 
nity of  doing  good.  He  should  accordingly  address  those  who  may  be 
present  before  or  after  death,  and  make  them  well  understand  that 
his  exhortation,  however  strong  it  may  be,  can  not  save  the  sick 
man  independently  of  the  state  of  his  own  heart ;  that  it  is  not  enough 
to  acquiesce  generally  in  what  is  said  to  him,  if  he  do  not  agree  with 
it  in  the  inward  feelings  and  desires  of  his  heart :  Many  souls  do  not 
experience  this  spiritual  hunger ;  probably  many  die  impenitent.  This, 
however,  should  not  be  applied  to  those  who  pray  and  lend  their  ear 
to  the  word  of  God.  The  baptism  for  the  dead,  or  over  the  dead,  of 
which  St.  Paul  speaks,  should  be  understood,  if  I  mistake  not,  as  re- 
ferring to  conversions  to  Christianity  shortly  before  death.  "To 
pluck  out  of  the  fire"  is  the  action  of  recovering  a  soul  which  is  in 
the  most  imminent  danger,  and  with  which  we  are  obliged  to  use 
the  most  violent  means,  since  we  should  only  waste  time  in  mild 
and  tranquil  representations.  The  words  of  Jesus,  "  There  are  few 
chosen,"  instead  of  discouraging  the  pastor,  should  redouble  his  zeal 
and  earnestness.  I  believe,  nevertheless,  that  death-bed  conversions 
are  rare.  Either  the  sick  man  has  had  more  grace  in  him  than  he  has 
allowed  to  be  seen,  and  the  last  moment  brings  to  light  this  hidden 
grace,  or  else  he  leaves  this  world  in  the  temper  in  which  he  has  al- 
ways been.  It  should,  however,  be  observed,  that  there  are  poor 
people  who,  from  want  of  culture,  can  not  express  that  which  is  in 
them.  God  loves  to  reveal  such  souls  upon  their  death-bed ;  he  does 
not  allow  his  children  to  depart  entirely  incognito. 

"  The  impenitent  who  would  put  off  conversion  to  the  last  moment 
should  be  admonished  that  at  death  one  can  not  be  sure  of  rendering 


APPENDIX.  383 

a  free  and  honest  testimony ;  for  if,  at  this  last  moment,  he  interro- 
gate his  conscience,  it  is  very  probable  it  will  answer,  "  Thou  wouldst 
not  have  done  this  hadst  thou  been  well." 

"  We  sometimes  find  persons  who  are  constantly  mourning,  with- 
out being  able  to  say  why ;  we  should  not  be  scandalized  at  their 
not  being  able  to  express  what  they  feel ;  we  must  let  them  weep, 
and  exhort  them  to  pour  out  their  heart  before  God,  through  Jesus 
Christ ;  he  will  hear  and  understand  them. 

"  We  should  remember  also,  by  the  bed  of  the  dying,  that  there  are 
some  who  are  disturbed  by  the  want  of  pardon  from  an  offended  per- 
son, and  should  procure  for  them  this  word  of  reconciliation,  after 
which  they  may  die  in  peace. 

XXVII.  "  We  add  to  these  rules  of  Bengel  for  the  visitation  of  the 
sick  a  few  of  his  own  words,  addressed  to  the  sick. 

1.  "He  said  to  a  man  whose  state  was  desperate,  'Dear  friend, 
penetrate  into  the  love  and  the  light  of  God;  know  how  to  use  the 
privilege  which  Jesus  Christ,  the  well-beloved,  acquired  for  the  rebell- 
ious children  of  his  Father ;  let  the  spirit  of  grace  be  mighty  in  your 
weakness ;  and  let  it  draw  from  you  those  sighs  which  bear  our 
souls  even  into  eternity,  where  we  are  called  to  be  with  that  great 
Forerunner  who  has  entered  thither  for  us,  and  for  all  those  who  have 
followed  the  right  road.     I  recommend  you  to  God :  let  us  pray  for 
one  another.' 

2.  "Mademoiselle  de  St. -,  ill  of  a  consumption,  showed  him 

her  emaciated  arms,  and  complained  that  God  had  not  yet  called  her 
away.     Bengel  replied  to  her:  'You  are  like  one  of  my  pupils,  who 
wished,  at  vacation,  to  go  away  before  the  time ;  he  was  obliged  to 
stay  until  the  last  lesson.     You  believe  that  you  have  nothing  more 
to  do  here  below ;  but  you  may  be  sure  that  it  is,  to  a  Christian,  a 
good  preparation  for  eternity,  when,  having  packed  away  every  thing, 
and  thinking  himself-  ready  to  depart,  he  is  still  obliged  to  wait  for 
the  signal  of  his  Master.     By  patiently  submitting  yourself,  you  ren- 
der to  God  a  sacrifice  acceptable  to  him.' 

3.  "  Bengel  was  present  with  several  other  Christian  friends  at 
the  bed  of  the  pastor  Grammich,  to  whom,  at  his  request,  this  song 
was  sung : 


384  APPENDIX. 

'  Cendre,  froide  et  muette, 
Dans  ta  sombre  retraite 
Dors  en  paix,  jusqu'au  jour 
Ou  le  Seigneur  qui  t'aime 
Temportera  lui-meme, 
Vivante  et  rajeunie,  au  bienheureux  sejour.' 

Bengel  repeated  to  the  sick  man  each  of  the  most  touching  expres- 
sions of  this  song.  Then  he  spoke  to  him  of  the  glory  of  the  city  of 
God,  '  which  must  indeed  be  beautiful,'  said  he,  '  since  it  is  written, 
God  it  not  ashamed  to  be  called  their  God ;  for  he  hath  prepared  for  them 
a  city.'  Then  the  sick  man,  impressed  with  the  majesty  of  God,  felt 
himself  profoundly  humiliated  by  his  own  misery.  He  groaned,  he 
tossed  himself  in  his  bed,  and  confessed  his  sins.  Bengel  said  to 
him :  '  It  is  indeed  necessary  that  the  servant  ask  pardon.'  The 
sick  man  did  so,  with  many  tears  ;  then  Bengel  continued :  '  If  we 
confess  our  faults  and  our  misery,  God  will  not  reckon  with  us ;  he 
acts  royally ;  he  remits  to  us  ten  thousand  talents  at  a  tune.'  Final- 
ly, the  sick  man  recovered  his  serenity,  and  kept  it  to  the  end.  When 
they  took  leave  of  one  another,  each  placed  his  hand  upon  the  other's 
head,  and  they  blessed  each  other  abundantly. 

4.  "  In  regard  to  a  person  attacked  with  a  mental  malady  :  '  I  like 
very  well,'  said  he,  'to  listen  to  these  persons;  they  often  retain 
something  of  what  is  said  to  them  ;  and  then  here  is  a  great  advant- 
age for  studying  human  nature.  But  when  the  melancholy  is  so 
great  that  the  sick  man  opens  neither  his  mouth  nor  his  heart,  I 
beseech  and  advise  him  to  repeat  my  words  aloud  :  There  is  a  great 
power  in  the  voice.' 

XXVIII.  "  As  to  disputes  between  husband  and  wife, we 

must  show  them  how  much  advantage  they  give  to  the  devil  when 

they  cease  to  combat  him  in  order  to  oppose  each  other As 

a  general  rule,  the  pastor  will  sometimes  do  well  to  undertake  the 
particular  treatment  of  a  divided  household,  and  conduct  it  in  a 
studied  manner,  as  in  the  case  of  a  cure  to  be  accomplished.  We 
can  not  efface  a  large  spot  by  lightly  rubbing  it  once.  Formerly, 
much  more  was  written  on  particular  sins  ;  now  we  are  content  to 


APPENDIX.  385 

lay  the  foundation,  believing  that  the  rest  will  come  of  itself.  We 
forget  that  very  often  we  may  uproot  a  whole  tree  by  drawing  it  only 
by  a  single  branch.  There  are  souls  with  whom  all  would  be  in  or- 
der if  one  sin  were  removed.  Do  not  be  wearied,  then,  pastors,  in 
distributing  the  Word  abundantly.  That  atheism,  which  is  always 
spreading  itself  more  and  more  in  society,  and  which  consists  less  in 
the  gross  impiety  of  certain  persons  than  in  a  general  negligence  of 
all  serious  thought  concerning  the  living  God,  is  combated  with  suc- 
cess only  by  an  assiduous,  minute,  and  complete  exposition  of  the 
divine  truth. 

XXIX.  "  When  we  endeavor  to  excite  the  rich  to  benevolence,  it 
is  desirable,  also,  to  take  occasion  to  remind  the  poor  of  the  duty  of 
justice  and  fidelity ;  else  the  poor  and  the  rich  will  complete  our 
words  greatly  to  their  detriment  in  reproaching  each  other  bitterly 
with  their  mutual  wrongs.    Would  it  not  be  better  to  lead  both  to 
seek  the  Lord  together,  and  to  induce  those  who  have  too  much  to 
give  to  those  who  have  not  enough  1     Perhaps  it  is  because  we  are 
contented  with  preaching  to  the  rich  that  they  seek,  in  the  conduct 
of  the  poor,  pretexts  for  not  succoring  them. 

XXX.  "  The  pastor  should  give  the  greatest  care  to  the  first  of 
his  parish,  I  mean  the  children ;  and  to  the  last,  that  is,  to  the  dying. 
To  the  first,  because  it  is  from  them  that  the  most  fruit  may  be  ex- 
pected ;  and  to  the  last,  because  he  has  but  a  very  short  time  to  ac- 
quit himself  of  his  ministry  toward  them. 

XXXI.  "  The  communion  administered  to  persons  so  differently 
disposed  must  necessarily  give  much  anxiety  to  a  conscientious 
pastor.     If  I  be  asked  whether  it  would  not  be  better  not  to  give  the 
communion  than  to  give  the  body  of  our  Lord  to  all  indiscriminately, 
I  reply,  that  there  is  a  difference  to  be  made  between  the  defense  of 
the  truth  in  theory  and  the  defense  of  truth  in  practice  !    The  first  is 
more  or  less  independent  of  the  variations  of  the  worldly  scene,  and 
is  accomplished,  more  or  less,  in  spite  of  all  circumstances.    The 
second  is  more  difficult  from  its  nature,  and  has,  in  every  age,  been 
subject  to  abuse. 

"  When  a  pastor  seriously  doubts  whether  a  person  who  presents 
R 


386  APPENDIX. 

himself  at  the  sacred  table  be  worthy  to  commune,  he  should,  before 
the  communion  day,  speak  in  private  to  this  person,  explain  to  him 
the  gravity  and  the  responsibility  of  the  action  which  he  undertakes, 
and  then  let  him  act  according  to  his  will.  Let  the  palisade  be 
raised  before  the  door  of  the  temple,  not  around  the  altar.  The 
pastor  must  be  able  to  dispense  the  Lord's  Supper  with  fullness  of 
joy,  as  if  he  were  communicating  to  all  his  sheep  all  the  virtue  of 
the  blood  of  Christ — as  if  he  felt  himself  strong  enough,  with  these 
sacred  pledges  of  mercy,  to  raise  all  the  souls  at  once  to  heaven. 

"  The  holy  communion  is  a  means  of  conversion  for  many ;  the 
officials  should  then,  according  to  the  knowledge  which  they  have  of 
the  situation  of  the  communicant,  address  to  him  the  words  of  the  in- 
stitution, with  all  the  gravity  and  emphasis  which  may  be  necessary, 
in  order  to  make  a  proper  impression  upon  him.  But  I  can  not  approve 
of  placing  the  utility  of  the  communion  in  its  being  the  means  of  con- 
version— a  doctrine,  properly  so  called,  for  this  precisely  is  not  its  end. 

XXXII.  "The  doctrine  of  the  efficacy  of  prayer  and  of  the  internal 
word  is  very  important ;  but  without  great  prudence  in  the  manner 
of  teaching  and  applying  it,  we  run  the  risk  of  falling  into  the  deceit 
of  the  heart,  and  of  tempting  God.     The  words  of  St.  John,  '  They 
shall  all  be  taught  of  God'  (vi.,  45  ;  Heb.,  viii.),  should  not  be  taken 
in  the  sense  that  no  one  needs  the  instruction  of  another.     If  it  were 
so,  why  should  the  apostles  have  taught  ?    These  words  indicate  the 
pre-eminence  of  the  New  Testament  over  the  Old.     In  the  former, 
God  was  obb'ged  to  use  force  with  the  Israelites  ;  the  New  is  char- 
acterized by  a  spirit  of  liberty  which  opens  the  mind.     When  a  man 
receives  the  spirit  promised  in  the  New  Testament,  all  becomes 
easier  to  his  comprehension,  and  he  acquires  a  facility  in  spiritual 
things  which  others  only  acquire  by  long  studies.    The  passage  in 
1  John,  ii.,  27,  is  applicable  to  false  doctrine,  with  which  the  Chris- 
tian need  not  be  made  acquainted.     To  know  whether  certain  souls 
may  be  aroused  without  the  intervention  of  the  evangelical  ministry, 
or  whether  the  entire  Church  can  be  sustained  and  perpetuated  with- 
out it,  are  two  different  questions. 

XXXIII.  "  The  mystics  date  from  the  fourth  or  fifth  century.    The 


APPENDIX.  387 

Aristotelian  philosophy,  and  afterward  the  scholasticism  which  was 
derived  from  it,  being  cultivated  with  ardor,  sincere  persons,  in  or- 
der to  escape  the  disputes  of  the  school,  withdrew  into  themselves. 
Each  mystic  had  a  certain  ray  of  light,  but  that  was  all.  He  under- 
stood nothing  of  the  economy  of  God,  nor  of  his  ways  in  general. 
These  men  were  wrapped  up  in  themselves,  and  were  no  longer  any 
thing  to  society.  They  lived  in  times  of  obscurity  ;  they  were  hap- 
py themselves,  but  contributed  nothing  to  the  happiness  of  others. 
While  the  scholastics  attached  value  to  nothing  but  speculation  and 
reasonings,  they,  as  well  as  the  Platonists,  valued  only  sentiment, 
and  a  blind  and  silent  disposition  of  the  heart.  The  mystics  must, 
however,  confess  that  what  they  have  of  good  they  could  have  found 
nowhere  but  in  the  pale  of  the  Church. 

XXXIV.  "  It  is  suitable  for  a  country  pastor  to  pursue,  together 
with  his  pastoral  labors,  some  particular  studies  relating  to  the  min- 
istry, in  order  not  to  fall  back  always  upon  himself;  he  should  know 
what  is  passing  elsewhere  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  so  as  to  be,  in  time 
of  need,  encouraged,  aroused,  humbled,  and  instructed." 

The  Thoughts  of  Bengel  on  the  Exercise  of  the  Ministry,  translated 
by  M.  Vinet,  have  appeared  in  the  Life  of  Bengel,  by  BDRK,  under  the 
title  of  Pastoral  Grundsaetze  (Part  ii.,  chap,  ii.,  art.  2).  M.  Vinet  has 
omitted,  in  his  translation,  the  sections  III.,  IV.,  XII.,  XIX.,  XXIV., 
XXXVII.,  XXXVIII.,  XLL,  XLII.,  and  XLIV.,of  the  German  work, 
although  he  refers  to  the  three  last  in  the  Notes  of  his  Pastoral  The- 
ology. The  references  to  the  retained  paragraphs,  corresponding  to 
the  divisions  of  Burk,  we  have  thought  it  our  duty  to  indicate  here 
only  because  of  the  omissions.  Section  XXVII.  of  the  original  work 
corresponds  to  section  XXII.  of  the  translation ;  section  XXX.  to 
section  XXV. ;  section  XXXIII.  to  section  XXVIII. ;  and  section 
XXXVI.  to  section  XXXI.  The  parts  omitted  relate  chiefly  to  local 
usages,  or  to  questions  which  are  now  no  longer  discussed,  as  they 
were  in  the  time  of  Bengel,  who  was  born  in  1687,  and  died  in  1752. 
— Edit. 

THE    END. 


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Works  in  Theological  Literature.  3 

Saurin's  Sermons. 

Translated  by  Rev.  R.  ROBINSON,  Rev.  H.  HCTNTEB,  and  Rev.  J 
SCTCLIFFE.  New  Edition,  with  additional  Sermons.  Revised 
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Hall's  complete  Works : 

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ited  by  0.  GREGORY,  LL.D.,  and  Rev.  J.  BELCHER.  Portrait 
4  vols.  8vo,  Sheep  extra,  $6  00. 

Barnes's  Notes  on  the  Gospels, 

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Barnes's  Notes  on  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 

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Works  in  Theological  Literature.  5 

Hawks's  History  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 

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Banyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress. 

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The  Sacred  Philosophy  of  the  Seasons. 

Illustrating  the  Perfections  of  God  in  the  Phenomena  of  the 
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tions, and  some  Modifications  10  adapt  it  to  American  Readers, 
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Theology  Explained  and  Defended, 

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Waddington's  History  of  the  Church, 

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Lord's  Exposition  of  the  Apocalypse. 

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Brown's  Dictionary  of  the  Holy  Bible. 

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and  Systematical  Description  of  other  Objects,  whether  Nat- 
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Testaments:  the  whole  comprising  whatever  important  is 
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Church  of  God ;  forming  a  Sacred  Commentary,  a  Body  of 
Scripture  History,  Chronology,  and  Divinity ;  and  serving  in  a 
great  measure  as  a  Concordance  to  the  Holy  Bible.  With  the 
Author's  last  Additions  and  Corrections,  and  further  enlarged 
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Brown's  Pocket  Concordance  to  the  Holy  Bi- 
ble.   32mo,  Roan,  37}  cents. 

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tory of  Deborah,  Ruth,  and  Hannah,  and  also  the  History  of 
Jesus  Christ.  8vo,  Muslin,  $1  75. 

Milman's  History  of  Christianity, 

From  the  Birth  of  Christ  to  the  Abolition  of  Paganism  in  the 
Roman  Empire.  With  Notes,  dec.,  by  JAMES  MURDOCK,  D.D. 
8vo,  Muslin,  81  90. 

Milman's  History  of  the  Jews, 

From  the  earliest  Period  to  the  present  Time.  With  Maps  and 
Engravings.  3  vols.  18mo,  Muslin,  81  20. 

The  Old  and  New  Testaments  Connected, 

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of  Christ.  By  HUMPHREY  PKIDKAUI,  D.D.  With  the  Life  of  the 
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Turner's  Sacred  History  of  the  World, 

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Works  in  Theological  Literature.  7 

The  Incarnation ; 

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With  an  introductory  Essay,  by  Mrs.  HARRIET  BEECHKB  STOWE. 
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Paley's  Natural  Theology. 

A  new  Edition,  from  large  Type,  edited  by  D.  E.  BARTLETT. 
Copiously  Illustrated,  and  a  Life  and  Portrait  of  the  Author. 
2  vols.  12iiio,  Muslin,  Si  50. 

Neander's  Life,  of  Jesus  Christ  : 

In  its  Historical  Connection  and  its  Historical  Development. 
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tra, 82  25. 

The  Land  of  Israel, 

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Evidence  of  Prophecy 

Evidence  of  the  Truth  of  the  Christian  Religion,  derived  from 
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by  the  History  of  the  Jews,  and  by  the  Discoveries  of  recent 
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Demonstration  of  Christianity. 

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The  Mysteries  Opened ; 

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8  Works  in  Theological  Literature. 

Biblical  Legends  of  the  Mussulmans. 

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Scripture  Illustrated, 

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Mosheim's  Ecclesiastical  History, 

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of  Europe  during  that  Period.  Translated,  with  Notes,  &c.,  by 
A.  MACLAINE,  D  D.  A  new  Edition,  continued  to  1826,  by  C. 
COOTE,  LL.D.  2  vols.  8vo,  Sheep  extra,  $3  50. 

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Gleig's  History  of  the  Bible. 

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